Rivets

Gateshead Riverside Park, Cast Iron. 130cm x 100cm, Cast Iron, 2010. Client: Gateshead Council. 

Sited underneath the King Edward V11 Railway Bridge these sculptures refer to the thousands of rivets holding this historic bridge together. The materials the rivets are made from, cast iron deliberately refers to Gateshead and the North East Region’s proud engineering and industrial heritage and the place names that are included on each rivet give them a local context and individual identity.

This is further enhanced by the inclusion of local school children’s plaster casts created during sculpture workshops with schoolchildren in the St Aidan's Primary School. The children cast contemporary fossils of their favorite toys and they were placed within each rivet. I hope the rivets provide strong memories of the project for those children involved and link the rivets to the community.