Untitled, 2007

Second Severn Crossing, Wales

I've come to celebrate contemporary Wales. As an artist, I create gentle, flowing, monumental yet adapting forms, because that's what I feel the world needing. Here at the Second Severn Crossing into Wales, for an audience of travelers in motion in cars and trains, I get just a few seconds to speak about Wales and Welshness.

This sculpture is a physical manifestation of the Welsh language being spoken, the forms tracing sound waves moving through space and time. It is a celebration of Cymraeg, a joyous expression of the human desire to not merely revere heritage but to live it, to keep it relevant and vibrant and adaptive and growing, historically aware yet at hand everyday. Here we can shout our joyful cry "Cross this line, and Welsh is heard."

Some viewers will naturally prefer a more visually recognizable reading of the sculpture, and for them I have layered visual references the legend of Y Draig Goch, awakening from burial beneath the earth. Red Dragon wings rise up from verdant Gwlad to fill with wind and movement, as if to defy gravity and awaken into flight, Dihuno'r Draig. The gossamer surfaces of red and white against the green backdrop create a new interpretation of the flag which bears its name.

I choose not to title this sculpture, because an open competition in Wales to title it will increase local participation and ownership.

The site has determined placement and materiality of the sculpture. It is located to maximize compelling views from both car and train in all directions, and is carefully engineered to withstand the harsh environmental site conditions. One of the site's formidable engineering challenges--its powerful coastal winds--is transformed into an animating force that makes the sculpture dance with the ever-changing choreography of wind-- a fitting new landmark for Wales.