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Island Bay Chapel - John DrawbridgeOur Lady Chapel at the Home of Compassion in Island Bay has proved a successful innovative collaboration between architect, artist, artisan, industrial technician, manufacturer and client. Although the tradition of artist and artisan working together to create a building is centuries old, in recent years the more common experience for most artists is that they are invited in once the building is designed and built, to place their works “in situ” with greater or lesser degrees of success. For an artist to be in at the inception of a project is not usual, so it is to be hoped that examples such as Our Lady Chapel will act as a catalyst for more co-operative design efforts in future. The BriefThe Sisters of Compassion had commissioned Structon Group Architects to completely rebuild the Island Bay Home of Compassion, which had been condemned as an earthquake risk. After much debate as to the timing of building a chapel within the Hospital (they had previously used a spare room) the Sisters decided that bequests especially designated for that purpose allowed them to extend the brief to architect Ross Brown. The Sisters wished to have stained glass windows and also the story of the fourteen Stations of the Cross represented. Although the story is not mandatory for a chapel (it is for a church), it has particular significance for this order, based as it is on the example of Mary, the woman of compassion who stood at the foot of the Cross. Although the Sisters had no particular preference for the form of representation, they knew they did not want traditional forms, rather "something more modern". It was at this point that artist John Drawbridge was commissioned. Ross Brown had already positioned the windows in his plans, and had done some preliminary drawings. The idea for the Stations being interpreted as windows had come to him in an inspired moment. He had ideas as to the colour choices which would most suitably reflect the movement of the sun, but soon realised that the special nature of the windows required an artist's creativity. At a colleague's suggestion - and recalling an earlier collaboration with the artist - Drawbridge was engaged. The WindowsFor many the visual imagery common in Catholic churches appears as highly sentimentalised romantic or neo-baroque representations of the stories of the Bible. John Drawbridge's work stands in sharp contrast in its simplicity and fine execution. The commission included a series of fourteen windows with each one portraying a Station of the Cross; an entry window; tower windows; altar windows and one facing south to the sea. The architect had designed the particular spaces for the Stations as windows, and specified the groupings. The first four Stations form one group along the northern wall between the altar and the entrance, and the remaining ten are lined along the eastern wall. To the artist the importance of the story of the Stations was paramount. He believed that representations were important for telling the story and his designs are figurative with a very strong sense of line drawing. The other windows were not interpreted as stories; here the design emphasis was the use of symbol from Catholicism and nature. They are abstract in form, relying more particularly on blocks of colour. The religious symbolism central to the significance of all the windows is strongly but subtly stated. The Station Windows: Computer and Laser Technology The artists first step was to make black and white descriptive drawings. He then simplified the images to silhouettes, to highlight clear positive/negative contrasts. The silhouettes were made into photocopied enlargements from which the artist took very fine line tracings, the enlarged size allowing for accuracy and precision. The tracings were programmed on to computer and the programme used to control the laser light beam which cut the 3mm steel stencils. The images were then painted black. The coloured glass windows were then set into place, with the steel stencils positioned in front in the interior of the chapel. Coloured GlassHundreds of samples of glass of differing texture, patterning and colour were imported from America and the process of choosing began. Large windows in the artist's home give onto Island Bay and provide an excellent 'laboratory' for testing the effects of light through the samples which were lined along the window edges. In choosing the most appropriate colour for each Station the artist relied completely on his feeling for the emotional significance of colour. Each choice "had to feel right" for each part of the story. Drawbridge tested his feeling for the colour in .relation to the meaning of each section. Through a process of elimination of rejecting the 'wrong’ colours he found the 'right’ ones stood out. Although he emphasises the personal nature of this response to colour, it is interesting how often his choices draw a sympathetic response from the viewer. They often correlate to traditional associations - the artist was unaware that blue signified Mary's cloak, and yet in Station 4 - Jesus meets his Mother, he chose blue signifying for him sadness, and again for Station l1 - Jesus is stripped of his garments. Red of course carrying as it does associations of blood, anger and death, was his logical choice for Station 1 - Jesus is condemned to death, and station 11 - Jesus is nailed to the Cross, whilst Station 13 - Jesus is taken down from the Cross, is a delicate cloudy range of subtle mauve through light blue/white. The final station - Jesus is laid in the Sepulchre - is white signifying a state of acceptance, purity and tranquillity. The visual continuity of colour was important too, and much though went into balancing the tremendous variation in the qualities of .the glass from its surface texture, its marbling and its opacity. Bright yellow was chosen for Station 9 - Jesus falls a third time, which is the central panel on the east wall (Stations 5-14). Finally the choices were ‘tested’ out on the Architect and the Sisters, who found their responses fitted those of the artist. The Entry Window is reminiscent of the great rose windows of European cathedrals, its form - a cross within a circle within a triangle. The cross (Christ's sacrifice, death), the circle (the perfect shape, a Renaissance concept of God, the host within the mass, eternity), the triangle (the holy Trinity). The artist has chosen compelling primary colours - blue, red and yellow in varying shades, relieved by blocks of white. Occasional touches of green pink and orange are there to 'surprise' the eye. Tower windowsThe Tower windows are sited in the tower above the entry window, and are a range of lighter more varied colours -pinks pale yellows, greens, blues and reds. Their purpose is to let plenty of light down into the body of the Chapel. The play of light is central to all church and chapel architecture because of its significance in Christianity - the Christ figure signifying 'the light of the world'. Altar WindowsThe altar is placed on the western side of the Chapel. Beyond it are a series of long panel windows forming a slight arc. These windows afford a view out onto bush and gorse clad Wellington hills. Although this is a high exposed part of Island Bay often buffeted by strong winds, it nevertheless offers an opportunity for contemplation for the worshipper or visitor. The window is bisected at its centre by a simple cross made from glass blocks. Above this, inset into the wall are two coloured glass windows; the lower, circular, the higher, triangular. Warm hued colours are again chosen - orange and red together with mauve and varying blues. South WindowIn this window the artist turned to natural forms to elucidate the beauty of the interaction of colour and light. It was important therefore that as this window faces south to the sea of Cook Strait, the glass should have a special quality. The colours chosen are all shades of blue and link to the rhythms of sea and sky. An added aspect is that blue is the attribute of Mary (the colour of her cloak). This window is different in other respects, it is rectangular in shape (formed by two rectangular areas) with a grid pattern repeating the motif of the cross, the whole bisected by one of the 'faux' columns with its gilt capital which are an architectural feature of the chapel and relics from the old Home building. Whilst colour and form is of major significance in these windows, texture cannot be overlooked. All the glass has been carefully chosen for its particular qualities, finish and opacity, and whether it suitably complements or contrasts with its neighbour. Making the Stained Glass Windows: Traditional CraftingThe making of these windows followed a traditional method. Initial sketches allowed the artist to shape his ideas: from these came specific coloured drawings which in turn were the basis from which patterns were made by the glassmaker. At this stage the artist made photocopied enlargements in colour on to transparent film, the purpose being to simulate stained glass in order to observe how light is affected by colour. Kirby hired a school hall for space in which to scale up the drawings into full-size cartoons. Patterns were then cut in brown paper and re-scaled in accordance with the joiner's measurements for the wooden window frames. Lead casings seal the pieces of glass together. They are the 'drawing' of the windows, the lines of varying thickness which work to hold the windows together both rhythmically and technically. Prosaically, windows must function properly. The CandleholderTanya Ashken received her commission directly from the Sisters for a candleholder to stand alone on the altar. Her concept was based on mirroring the natural forms expressed in the glass and nature as viewed beyond the altar windows. The flowing birdlike shape of the finished piece embodies these ideas in its rhythmic silver holder floating on a silver rod embedded in a carved New Zealand silver beech base. ConclusionThe success of the completed project proves the claim made for the importance of collaboration between art, craft, design and manufacture in the final realisation of a building and in particular this chapel. The windows are aesthetically beautiful; the importance of their meanings is sensitively expressed and clearly read. They work properly in functional terms and are successfully designed to capture the sun’s light from its altering position in the sky as the seasons change. Unique patterns of colour caress the interior as light filters through at ever-changing angles, creating an harmonious and contemplative space. The commission has allowed industry to be involved in truly creative work and led to further commissions and technological developments. It has involved the creative interaction of all with each contributor's work being vital to the successful outcome of the whole. It is to be hoped that this Our Lady Chapel becomes an example for many more such projects.
Written by Lesleigh Salinger |
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