Ceramic artist David Marques is proud to unveil his latest work, a large-scale ceramic art installation for Cancer Research UK’s oncology clinic at Imperial College London. The piece, entitled ‘Science with Care: Bringing Research to the Clinic’, depicts a series of butterflies fluttering through a healing meadow of flowers. Made from 250 individually cast pieces of parian porcelain and covering an area approximately 14m in length, the installation is attached to the walls with custom made brass fittings, enabling the flowers and butterflies to float from the wall and flow around the patient waiting area.
David designed the piece to highlight the symbiotic relationship between research and care. The butterflies’ wings take the shape of the DNA helix. As each butterfly touches a flower, patterns are transferred from petal to wing, a cross-pollination that symbolises the treatments’ power to heal and the patients’ power to help further medical research. David says the piece is intended to represent ‘science with care… and how together this can help us find new treatments, kinder treatments and more people surviving cancer. It takes a partnership between everyone to make this happen.’
The piece was unveiled at a VIP reception at Clinic 8, Charing Cross Hospital to coincide with World Cancer Day on Thursday 4 February 2016.