Wells Cathedral Contemporary Site- Specific Installation Exhibition
Living Water – Wells Contemporary 2026
Living Water has been selected for Wells Contemporary 2026 as a site-specific installation for Wells Cathedral. The monumental sculpture will be installed in the Camery Garden, where it will enter into a direct relationship with the ancient springs from which Wells takes its name.
The selection marks an important development within Forms of the Living Coast: conceived in Pembrokeshire and informed by its holy wells, springs, geology and coastal landscape, Living Water will move from the artist’s Pembroke studio into the historic and spiritual landscape of Wells Cathedral.
Site proposal: I selected the Camery Garden because it creates a direct relationship between Living Water and the origins of Wells Cathedral itself. The sculpture explores water as both a physical necessity and a powerful spiritual symbol, drawing inspiration from the hidden water infrastructures of sacred places, from the vast underground cisterns of Hagia Sophia, Istanbul to the holy wells and healing springs of Pembrokeshire.
The Camery Garden offers a setting where visitors can glimpse the springs that gave Wells its name, establishing a dialogue between the sculpture and the living source of the cathedral’s history. The work would stand within a landscape shaped by both hidden archaeology and hidden water. Built above the remains of Bishop Stillington’s fifteenth-century Lady Chapel and overlooking the ancient springs, the sculpture encourages reflection on the enduring relationship between water, faith and place. Living Water is intended to exist in conversation with the natural environment, where changing light and weather become part of the experience. In the Camery Garden, the sculpture reconnects the cathedral with the life-giving waters from which its identity first emerged.
Medium: Portland Snowcrete and sawdust; Anthrolite.
