Portals
(2016)
Materials: Coloured timber sections, steel square tubing/ hardwood frames, glass, print.
Dimensions: variable.
Portals is a sequence of entrance pieces, each one setting a different way to enter a space. These portals can be experienced as gateways, passages that allow access of space or knowledge, allowing one to enter both a physical and a conceptual architecture.
While we associate doors both physically and metaphorically with the possibility of passing through, the decision to enter or turn away is made in response to an understanding of social status, situation and desire, or feelings of being welcome.
Portal: Chinatown symbolises inclusion and exclusion in relation to migration. It also pays homage to the thousands of Chinese sailors who, having settled in Liverpool, were forcibly repatriated in 1945 following a decision by the Home Office, with no rights to ever return. The Children’s Portal is specifically for children to use, imagining that they will use it to enter a world of their own invention.
