Sculpture Walk

The University of Exeter’s beautiful Streatham Campus hosts 40 sculptures, some indoors and some out in the open. The sculpture walk includes works by Dame Barbara Hepworth and Peter Randall-Page, together with other renowned and emerging artists.

# Visting the Sculpture Walk

Outdoors sculptures are available to view during daylight hours. 

Please be aware that during summer and winter holiday periods and at weekends, some of the indoor sculptures may not be fully accessible if buildings are locked. 

Download the pdf map of sculptures by clicking on the orange box at the top right of this page.

Please scroll through the images below to find out more about each of the sculptures on the walk.

We have also worked with charity InFocus to develop part of the walk for those who may be visually impaired. You can find out more about this walk and download the audio files [here](https://www.artsandcultureexeter.co.uk/trail/sculpture-walk-for-visually-impaired-people). 

Sculpture Walk Intro Text

UoE Sculpture walk map 2025

Sculpture Walk Trail Block

Dame Barbara Hepworth is one of the most important figures in the development of abstract art in Britain.

*Figure* portrays the traditional elegant lines associated with her subtle synthesis of geometry and organic form.

In the words of Barbara Hepworth, this bronze sculpture is a ‘re-interpretation’, of an original carving in walnut which had split.  A plaster prototype was made, as was Hepworth’s practice, from which the cast bronze versions of the sculpture were made.  This sculpture is marked, on its plinth ‘0/6’ . The zero ‘0’ denotes the fact that it was the artist’s copy.  Six additional casts were then made.

The artist’s signature can also be seen towards the back of the base.

Barbara Hepworth said of this sculpture, *"in this work the artist seeks, through the interplay of light and shadow to convey the feeling of a central presence accompanied by another presence within and behind it. Bronze was deliberately chosen as the material for this work in order to give warmth to the inner heart of the figure*.”

Find out more about the artist [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Hepworth).

Image: Barbara Hepworth © Bowness

*Artist*  Dame Barbara Hepworth

*Title*  Figure

*Material*  Bronze

*Year*  1964

*Location*  University Reception, Stocker Road, Streatham Campus

Dame Barbara Hepworth - Figure 

This is one of two mosaics on the theme of mist, directly inspired by the artist’s visits to Venice. She has visited this glorious, magical city every year for many, many years to visit her friends at the Orsoni mosaic factory and buy the materials she uses in her work - the golds and the special glass called smalti.

Elaine says, “I feel an intimate connection with the city, and have experienced it in every  type of weather: rain, sparkling sunlight and above all in the heavy mists of  an early morning when even parts of the city I know so well become a mystery to me and all my certainties become disoriented.”

“This theme of relative knowledge for our human understanding and absolute knowledge for Truths is one I find myself frequently turning to.”

Elaine M Goodwin trained at Exeter College of Art and Design. She has exhibited extensively and has written several works on mosaics and design.

Together with other prominent mosaic artists, she also founded Tessellated Expression for the 21st Century (TE-21), a group of professional artists dedicated to exhibitions of mosaics.

She was awarded Honorary Doctorate of Letters (DLitt) for outstanding contribution to the world of art, by the University of Exeter in July 2010.  She is the Founder President of BAMM (British Association of Modern Mosaic).

Find out more about the artist[ here](http://www.elainemgoodwin.co.uk/index.php).


*Photo: M Tomkinson*

*Artist* Elaine M. Goodwin

*Title* Mists II: The Known & the Unknown

*Material*  Venetian mosaic gold

*Year* 2009         

*Location* Forum Reception, Stocker Road, Streatham Campus

Funded by the Class of 2012 Project and the University of Exeter


Elaine M. Goodwin - Mists II: The Known & the Unknown

This stunning artwork was commissioned specifically for the University’s Forum building. It is set into the glass panes forming the front of the building.

The sources of inspiration for the work are all based on the University’s environs and some of its research work. Each of the forms that populate the glass has its own alphabet of colours, giving a broad range of hues through cool to warm. The warmer colours are on the sunny side of the building.

The colours in the artwork form a code and all the words relate to the University. The text is broken up into blocks and these are themed.

Alexander Beleschenko is inspired by creating positive environments with light and colour. He was born in Corby in 1951 and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.  He works from his architectural glass studio in Swansea.

Download a conversation and information about the colour codes of the sculpture [here](https://assets.ctfassets.net/4h5a26cfixk0/4zu2XgwBOsOUwMZKD8QukD/4d5bead018dac0293c2539c653fbe67d/Alexander_Beleschenko_colour_code_conversation__3_.pdf).

Find out more about the artist [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Beleschenko).

Photograph ©University of Exeter

*Artist* Alexander Beleschenko

*Material* Toughened glass, digitally printed

*Year* 2011
 
*Location* The Forum, Stocker Road, Streatham Campus

Alexander Beleschenko - Path

By reproducing pollen forms in an architectural material Jo Golesworthy illustrates a botanic world, ubiquitous yet invisible to the naked eye.

Pollen grains are the microscopic protective caskets conveying the male reproductive cells of flowering plants.

A wide variety of shapes and textures denote the identity of plant families, genera, species and even local variation.

Palynology is widely used in forensic science for criminal and archaeological investigation.

Pollen sizes range from 5 to 500 microns in diameter although most measure between 20 and 80. (1 micron is 1/1,000 of a millimetre.)  It was not until the development of the microscope in the seventeenth century that individual pollen specimens could be seen in detail. They can now be studied with the aid of scanning electron and light microscopy.

*Artist* Jo Golesworthy

*Title* A Dusting of Pollen

*Material*  Pollen grains of common wild flowers enlarged approx. X 10,000 in limestone compound

*Year*      2012

*Location* Seal Courtyard, The Forum, Stocker Road, Streatham Campus 

(please note that if your unable to access to the Seal Courtyard,  the sculptures can be viewed through the windows to the Seal Courtyard on the ground floor of the main Forum sreet.)

Jo Golesworthy - A Dusting of Pollen


Made of contemporary materials in the form of a knotted rope sphere, this sculpture is a memorial to an ancient walk across Devon, the Mariners’ Way.  The 73 mile route is represented by knots reflecting the steps taken in the walk.

The Mariners’ Way Walk is an ancient journey crossing Devon; from Bideford on the North coast to Dartmouth on the South. The journey was undertaken by seamen wishing to change ships. Although the walk was treacherous, the shipping industries were of such  importance that this journey proved lucrative.

Today a weather-beaten stone cross and a traditional Medieval Longhouse mark out where this ancient route existed. Traces of the track now echo in the traditions of Dartmoor.

The use of the half-hitch macramé knot is important on several levels. It works as a physical representation of the steps undertaken by the mariners; in a medium integral to their lives.

This traditional maritime skill would have had both a practical application in their work and served as a form of artistic expression.

Mariners used knotting to create decorative pieces of macramé, that they would often sell on their travels.

Edward Crumpton was born in North Devon and studied Fine Art at the University of Lincoln.

[Find out more about the artist.](https://www.edwardcrumpton.com/)

Photograph © University of Exeter

*Artist* Ed Crumpton 

*Title* Mariners Way II 

*Material*  1200 metres of hand knotted rope

*Year*     2015 

*Location* Opposite Forum pond below Southern Piazza of Forum, just below Multifaith Chaplaincy building, Streatham Campus

Ed Crumpton - Mariners Way II 

The Peacock is a sculpture designed by members of the University of Exeter’s Art Society and built in collaboration with local Devon artist, Ed Crumpton.

Based on the theme of sustainability, the sculpture is formed from materials used in the construction of The Forum and aims to promote recycling.

As well as an animal of beauty, the process of replenishment in the peacock’s feathers mirrors the construction of the Forum project, converting old to new. This is fundamentally what the sculpture is; old hoardings have been used to create something new and beautiful. 

The imposing structure of the peacock in display immediately captures the viewer’s attention.  The metal structure reflects the light, colour and movement of the sculpture’s environment, creating a sense of energy within the piece.  The first band of feathers provides the grounding to the following two layers, alluding to the extensions to the old university buildings; The Forum itself and the extension of the Library.  Furthermore, the two layers, adorned with glass beads, represent the two year time scale in which the Forum was constructed.  The curve of each feather acts to complement the architecture of the building.

More information about the University of Exeter Art Society [here](https://www.exeterguild.org/societies/art/)

Photograph © University of Exeter

*Artist* Student Art Society with Edward Crumpton

*Title*  The Peacock

*Material*  Aluminium composite

*Year*  2013

*Location*  Poole Gate just below the Forum South Piazza, Streatham Campus

Student Art Society with Ed Crumpton

Created in 1960 to symbolise the new University's aspirations, reaching out to the World, the feet of this sculpture are encircled by Rams’ horns. This is an allusion to the roots of the University, the Royal Albert Memorial College in Exeter, now the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery in Queen Street, Exeter.

Peri was Hungarian by birth and a refugee from Nazi Germany, active in British anti-Nazi groups. His work has its roots in social realism and his desire to be accessible to the public determined his choice of subjects and their execution, often using coloured concrete which he pioneered in the 1930s.   

More information about the artist [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Laszlo_Peri).

Photograph: John Melville © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Peter Peri

*Title*  Man of the World

*Material*  

*Year*  1960

*Location*  Devonshire House, Streatham Campus (please view from inside Devonshire House ground floor, RAM bar foyer where you can see the sculpture through the large window)

Peter Peri - Man of the World

Composed of eight units of 6ft x 3ft mild steel ¼ inch plate weighing approximately 11/2 cwt each, this sculpture was commissioned specifically for its location as a frame to the cornfields and meadows of the Higher Hoopern valley.

The orange side responds to the warm ochre of the cornfields in the distance which could be seen before the present luxuriant shrubbery on the left obscured them.  Passing between the two sections of the sculpture and looking back, you see the green side which likewise reflects the lawn beyond it.

Roger Leigh trained as an architect and worked as an assistant in Barbara Hepworth’s studio in the early 1950’s. He returned to St Ives later in the decade and began his full time career as a sculptor.  In the 1960s he also taught at the Exeter School of Art.

Photograph: John Melville © University of Exeter

*Artist* Roger Leigh

*Title* Partition 8/6 x 3

*Material*  Mild Steel ¼ inch plate

*Year*  1969, purchased by the University in 1971

*Location*  Walkway between the Queen’s Building and Devonshire House, Streatham Campus

Roger Leigh - Partition 8/6 x 3

Artist's Statement:

"Walking through the campus grounds, the glorious collection of trees set my imagination going – images of sculptures entwined around trunks, held within the grasp of multiple branches, dangling from on high, and interlaced with the natural forms, which inspire my work.  When this piece was commissioned by the University, I sought to create a sculpture which would work with the tree: a piece with the feeling of a living organism which became part of its host, rather like the Wisteria already at home on its trunk; yet at the same time with a presence of its own.


I envisaged a shape, which would descend from a branch of the tree, with a tail providing both a visual link and the means with which to tie the work to the branch. The pale colours of the shape were selected to show up against the background of greenery, and the tail (entwined around the tree) allowed for a gradual change towards the colour of the bark – a mixture of pinks, greens, browns and greys. Thus mimicking both the colours in nature made up of millions of tiny flecks of colour and the way a painter might mix colour on canvas. The techniques I use of tying, twisting, bending and weaving become a visual equivalent of the meditative energy that goes into the making and somehow infuses the finished work with a quiet, but life-filled, state of being."

Deborah Duffin  2014

Find out more about the artist [here](http://www.deborahduffin.co.uk/?LMCL=UPo1AW).

*Artist* Deborah Duffin

*Title*  White Entwined

*Material*  Various wires: recycled, electrical and galvanised wire

*Year* 2014

*Location*  Walnut Tree, Poole Gate, Streatham Campus

Deborah Duffin - White Entwined

In 1995 Deborah Duffin carried out a major work for BT to celebrate their change over from analogue to digital. They delivered a van load of old telephone wire, with which she made a 7m triptych.
This brought an exciting array of colour into her work and prompted her to look at her own waste as a source of materials - she tries to use those that would otherwise be consigned to landfill.

Packaging comes in an assortment of colours, textures and materials. This has allowed her to mix colour as a painter might – juxtaposing colour to create a modulating effect. This leads the eye along or around the form, creating a richness of texture and colour.

Observational drawing of the natural world underpins her work – rhythms and patterns in the tiniest shell and the most expansive landscape come through - Irregular repetition fascinates her, and the way each rock, stone, or landscape is made up of many tiny fragments of colour.

Architectural features provide a framework and foil for the organic shapes of the work, which in turn brings to life the space it inhabits.

Both Multicoloured Zigzag and Citrus Circle are made from wire and recycled materials: cut up bottle tops, containers, ring pulls and electrical components.

*Artist*  Deborah Duffin

*Title*  Multicoloured Zigzag with Citrus Circle

*Material* Wire and recycled materials

*Year* Acquired 2011

*Location*  First floor gallery, the Old Library, Streatham Campus

Deborah Duffin - Multicoloured Zigzag with Citrus Circle 

This is a two part piece commissioned by University, designed especially for the space to enliven the wall around the information screen.

It brings organic forms from the natural world into the geometric shapes of the space and is made from recycled materials.

 The colours used reflect the colours elsewhere in the room, and highlight the huge range colours, textures and forms of the waste materials we consign to the bin with hardly a glance, as we go about our daily lives.

*Artist*  Deborah Duffin

*Title* Blue/orange Zigzag with Oval

*Material* Wire and recycled materials

*Year* 2012

*Location*  First floor gallery, the Old Library, Streatham Campus

Deborah Duffin -Blue/orange Zigzag with Oval

This interactive sculpture outside The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum provides fun for all the family.

Artist Kenny Munro created this sculpture from mirrored stainless steel, allowing the visitor to engage with reflections from the natural world (and of themselves and their friends!). The mirrored surfaces work both inside and outside the structure and are crowned by a model of a magic lantern.

Reflected Vision is informed by the pre-cinema holdings of the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum and the different ways of seeing created by optical entertainments.

Bill Douglas was both a filmmaker and a collector and the museum was founded from the huge collection of moving image ephemera he put together with his friend Peter Jewell. Bill was fascinated by the wonder of different ways of viewing the world and the sculpture also contains a stone, bearing a poetry inscription from the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám that was used as the epigraph to the published script of Bill’s film Comrades.

Kenny Munro is an environmental artist who trained at Edinburgh College of Art and Royal College of Art and has designed many public works of art in Scotland. He is also a great admirer of Bill Douglas’s films and created a sculpture called ‘A Place of Dreams’ in Bill’s home area of Newcraighall, Edinburgh.

The mirrored stainless steel used was fabricated by McMillan Ltd of Prestonpans, East Lothian, under Kenny’s direction. Bill Douglas is buried at Bishop’s Tawton, North Devon, and the links between Scotland and Devon are underlined also by the use of Scottish granite, supplied by Fyfe Glenrock of Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire, for the poetry slab,  and the use of natural Dartmoor granite rocks in the landscaping.

The sculpture has been largely funded through private donations and through the Exeter University Foundation, as well as the generosity of suppliers. Thanks also the the work of the University’s Building and Estates and Grounds teams.  It has a great position on the grass bank above Prince of Wales Road, looking over the City. We hope that ‘Reflected Vision’ will be both an attraction for visitors to the museum, which offers two galleries of artefacts on the history of the moving image and a collection of over 75,000 items [(www.bdcmuseum.org.uk)](http://www.bdcmuseum.org.uk/).

Photograph: © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Kenny Munro

*Title*  Reflected Vision

*Material* Mixed metals

*Year* Funded by private donations and the University Foundation 2015

*Location*  Lawn below the Old Library, Prince of Wales Road, Streatham Campus

Kenny Munro - Reflected Vision

Sir Thomas Monnington was commissioned to design and execute the painted cedar-wood ceiling for the University Chapel which, with his two assistants, took him eleven months to complete.

Illuminated by the light from the clear chapel windows, the effect replaces the usual stained-glass windows.

Thomas Monnington, born in 1902 and a graduate in decorative painting from the Slade School, was an official war artist in World War II. By the time of this commission he was developing a more abstract style.

The Chapel is a Grade II listed building.

Photo: John Melville © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Sir Walter Thomas Monnington

*Title*  The Chapel Ceiling

*Material* Painting on cedar wood

*Year* 1956

*Location* The Mary Harris Memorial Chapel, Streatham Campus

 Sir Walter Thomas Monnington - The Chapel Ceiling

This alabaster sculpture is a celebration of the birth of the sculptor's grand-daughter, hence its title. Born in Poland in 1922, the artist flew with the RAF during the war and regarded an overhead view of sculpture to be just as important as views from North, South, East or West.

The highly polished white alabaster is suggestive of purity and innocence, while the many graceful concave and convex curves reveal an intricate variety of gentle perspectives.  The sculptor himself noted that he intended the flowing shapes to give a sweeping movement, indicating feminine charm and elegance.

Kawalec spent over 30 years living in Devon where he sculpted and ran a sculpture park near Crediton.

Photo: John Melville © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Witold Gracjan Kawalec

*Title*  Kay Alexandra (study)

*Material* Alabaster

*Year* Purchased 1979

*Location*   The Mary Harris Memorial Chapel, Streatham Campus

 Witold Gracjan Kawalec Kay Alexandra (study)

Norman Yendell's work usually concentrates on religious or mythological subjects. This wood sculpture depicts the traditional Biblical theme of loaves, fishes and baskets.

Norman Yendell, who exhibited his wood sculptures in the University in 1973, declared his intention to donate the entire proceeds of sales to Quaker Relief in Northern Ireland.  In his retirement, he enjoyed the creativity afforded by wood sculpture in the round, and portrayed religious and mythological subjects. 

Here, his depiction of the traditional theme shows loaves, fishes and baskets; it repays inspection from all angles to appreciate the details.

Photo: John Melville © University of Exeter 

*Artist*  Norman Yendell

*Title*  The Feeding of the Five Thousand

*Material* Wood

*Year* 1973

*Location*  The Mary Harris Memorial Chapel, Streatham Campus

Norman Yendell- The Feeding of the Five Thousand

A triptych exploring Life - the existing moment and the next moment and so on...

Placed in a sacred setting, as here in a chapel - the work takes on the deep symbolism of those who look with deep religious devotion. The gift of life to Christians by their Lord can be experienced within the light of the mosaic.

Elaine M Goodwin trained at Exeter College of Art and Design. She has exhibited extensively and has written several works on mosaics and design.

Together with other prominent mosaic artists, she also founded

Tessellated Expression for the 21st Century (TE-21), a group of professional artists dedicated to raising the profile of mosaic as self expression.

She is the Founder President of BAMM (British Association of Modern Mosaic).

She was awarded Honorary Doctorate of Letters (DLitt) for outstanding contribution to the world of art, by the University of Exeter in July 2010.

Find out more about the artist [here](https://www.elainemgoodwin.co.uk/).

*Photo: Elaine M. Goodwin*

 

Photograph: © Elaine M Goodwin

*Artist*  Elaine M Goodwin

*Title*  Breathing the Eternal

*Material* Venetian & Ravenna Mosaic Gold

*Year* 2011  

*Location*  The Mary Harris Memorial Chapel, Streatham Campus

Elaine M Goodwin - Breathing the Eternal

The title ‘Triad’ (Menhir) references large upright standing stones, which were constructed during many different periods across pre-history, and they were erected as part of a larger megalithic culture that flourished in Europe and beyond. In modern Welsh, they are maen hir, or "long stone".

The artist was encouraged to sculpt by his personal friend, Barbara Hepworth. This piece reveals her influence in understanding the importance of negative space. It is constructed from marble, which gives a strong outline and appears weighty.  It evokes a sense of grandeur but also draws attention to the shapes of the immediate world around us which surround the spaces in the work.

This striking sculpture was presented to the University in 2010 by the family of Roderick Ross who was a great friend of the sculptor. In Triad, you might see high windows, boat sails or instead experience the feeling of spiritual yearning.

Photograph: ©University of Exeter

*Artist*  Moelwyn Merchant

*Title*  Triad

*Material* Granite and marble

*Year* Presented to the University by the family of Roderick Ross, Registrar and then Secretary of the University 1950-1975

*Location*  Mary Harris Memorial Chapel, Prince of Wales Road, Streatham Campus

Moelwyn Merchant -Triad

This work was originally commissioned for a building in Bristol in 1974 and obtained by the University through a benefaction from Dr A John Nunn.

In the same way that a ship's sails catch the winds, Skysails picks up light, re-presenting it with curved and polished stainless steel surfaces. Whether the day is clouded or bright, Skysails asserts its compelling presence.  In the evening light, the pink brick wall is reflected on the sails and, seen from immediately below the sculpture acquires a spiky effect, almost reminiscent of a ‘Tall Ship’ in full sail, or cacti in the desert, perhaps.

Born in Newton Abbot, the artist studied art at Paignton School of Art and later at the Royal College of Art in London. He was initially a teacher at Winchester School of Art and later in 1955 in Lagos, Nigeria, where he established an art department at Yaba Technical College.

He also developed as a sculptor whilst in Nigeria and in the1960’s he moved to St Just in Cornwall where he worked as a sculptor until his death in 2009. Sources of inspiration for his works included music and architecture.

Photograph: John Melville © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Paul Mount

*Title*  Skysails

*Material* Stainless Steel

*Year* 1974

*Location*  Outside Wall of the Queen’s Building, facing the Queen’s Drive, Streatham Campus

Paul Mount - Skysails

This fibreglass sculpture of a girl in a polka-dot bathing costume humorously commemorates the amount of rainfall in May 1979.

The Australian artist, who works mainly in fibreglass, was in residence at the University that year.

Find out more about the artist [here](http://petercorlett.com/index.html).

Photograph © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Peter Corlett

*Title*  Five Days in May

*Material* Fibreglass

*Year* 1980

*Location*   Foyer of Senior Common Room, The Queen’s Building, Streatham Campus


 Peter Corlett - Five Days in May

This piece, made from teak, was presented to the University by the artist who was Professor of English at the University between 1961 and 1974. A sense of gentle movement is given in a measured and quasi-geometric progression.

This striking sculpture was one of two presented to the University in 1984 by the sculptor.  In Ascending Form, you might see the hulls of racing-boats piled upon each other, precariously perched, ready to ascend or descend.

Please note that this sculpture is only accessible Monday to Friday in office hours.

Photograph: © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Moelwyn Merchant

*Title*  Ascending Form

*Material* Teak

*Year* Presented to the University by the sculptor 1984

*Location*  Lower Foyer, The Queen’s Building, Streatham Campus

Moelwyn Merchant - Ascending Form

One of a limited edition of nine, this cast bronze sculpture forms part of a series entitled "Maze Predicament" which reflects Ayrton's interest in mythological and classical themes.

Also known for his paintings he was a novelist, broadcaster, art critic and historian, theatrical designer and film director. 

The Senate of the University of Exeter confirmed the bestowal of an Honorary Degree on Michael Ayrton in December 1976, but he died before it could be conferred upon him.  He is believed to have been the only person to have had an Honorary Degree awarded posthumously at Exeter.

Find out more about the artist [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ayrton).

Photograph: John Melville © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Michael Ayrton

*Title* End Maze III  

*Material* Bronze

*Year* Purchased 1973 

*Location* Lower Foyer, The Queen’s Building, Streatham Campus

Michael Ayrton, End Maze III

Jauchzet is both an exclamation of joy and a Graham Technique dance position. The sculpture, made in forged and constructed steel, reflects Grimsey's intention to make "a rich fully three-dimensional object which makes sense of itself with rhyme and reason".

It is based on an idea inspired by a Martha Graham dance movement and you are invited to view the work from different angles in order to appreciate the interacting rhythms of body and garments. This compelling sculpture epitomises Tom Grimsey’s concern to create, in his own words, a rich fully three-dimensional object which makes sense of itself with rhyme and reason.  

Tom Grimsey (1960 – 2014) studied sculpture at Wimbledon and St Martin’s school of art and was a ‘Henry Moore Sculpture Fellow’ from 1990 – 1991.

Photograph: John Melville © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Tom Grimsey

*Title*  Jauchzet

*Material* Forged and constructed steel

*Year* Purchased 1994

*Location* The Queen’s Building Inner Patio, Streatham Campus

Tom Grimsey - Jauchzet

Mabel Early was born in Sheffield in 1910 and showed an early aptitude for drawing and painting. This interest was nurtured at school where she won a prestigious place at the Slade School to study Fine Art. At the Slade, in the early Thirties, she trained as a painter where the portrait of her was painted by M. Williamson.

This remarkable 7ft x 5ft tapestry evokes both a real and an imagined constellation.  It was brought to fruition over a period of years.

Photograph: John Melville © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Mabel Early

*Title* Galaxy M81

*Material* Embroidered tapestry

*Year* 1986

*Location*  Lower Foyer, East Wing, The Queen’s Building, Streatham Campus

Mabel Early - Galaxy M81

The artist was encouraged to sculpt by his personal friend, Barbara Hepworth. This piece reveals her influence of incorporating wires into the space created by the form. It is constructed from painted mild steel with stainless steel wires, which give both a tension and helps to relate opposite parts of the form. The work resembles a mysterious musical instrument perhaps.

The artist was Professor of English at the University between 1961 and 1974.

Photograph: John Melville © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Moelwyn Merchant

*Title*  Tension

*Material* Painted mild steel with stainless steel wires

*Year* 1984

*Location*  The Queen’s Building Cafe Courtyard, Streatham Campus

Moelwyn Merchant - Tension

This bronze figure is solid and centred, but just at the limits of comfortable balance. There is an interplay between the conditions of this world – flesh, metal, gravity and the aspirations and longings that make us look beyond them. In this case literally to the stars.

Janis Ridley was born in Co Durham and studied sculpture at Newcastle upon Tyne School of Art and painting at Exeter college of Art, and graduated in 1976 with a BA Hons Fine Art.

Until 1994 she painted in oils and exhibited throughout the UK including Beaux Arts Bath, and the Royal Academy.

In 1995 she began to concentrate solely on making sculpture. In 1998 she was elected member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors. Her work integrates her experience of drawing the figure with a deep interest in dance and certain myths.

Find out more about the artist [here](http://www.janisridleysculpture.com/).

Photograph: © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Janis Ridley

*Title*  Stargazer

*Material* Bronze

*Year*  2001

*Location*  The Queen’s Building Cafe Courtyard, Streatham Campus

Janis Ridley - Stargazer

This large and strikingly powerful sculpture commemorates the tragic events in Tiananmen Square, Beijing on 3rd and 4th June 1989. It was anonymously erected overnight in 1989 by a group of students and every June wreaths are laid against it.

The figure with its lance outstretched is the modern equivalent of Don Quixote who sought to redress wrongs however he perceived them, and at whatever odds.

Photograph: © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Devon And Somerset Students' Association (DASSA)

*Title*  Untitled

*Material* Steel

*Year* June 1989

*Location*  Queen’s Drive Lawn, Streatham Campus

Devon and Somerset Students' Association (DASSA) - Untitled

This abstract evocation of the mother and child icon is a much cherished feature of the Queen's Building lawn.

Although the form of this sculpture in bronze is reminiscent of a mother and child, its title is quite deliberate. Dame Barbara related the sculpture to its location in the environment as well as evoking a sense of being part of the landscape.

This figure is recognisable as the work of Dame Barbara and blends naturally with the growing forms of trees and shrubs around it.

Its presence on the University campus is entirely due to the artistic flair of the late Canon W Moelwyn Merchant, Professor of English at the University, 1961-1974, whose friendship with the sculptress facilitated the siting of her sculpture on the campus.

Born in Yorkshire in 1903, Dame Barbara trained at the Leeds School of Art and the Royal College of Art. In 1950 she set up a studio in St Ives where she lived until her death in 1975.

Find out more about the artist [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Hepworth).

Image:Barbara Hepworth © Bowness

*Artist*  Dame Barbara Hepworth

*Title*  Figure for Landscape

*Material* Bronze

*Year* 1960

*Location*  The Queen’s Building Lawn, Streatham Campus

 Dame Barbara Hepworth - Figure for Landscape

Baroness Floella Benjamin completed her tenure as Chancellor of the University of Exeter in 2016 and this sculpture commemorates her time here at the University.

The sculpture is a bust of Floella Benjamin and includes her hands giving the work a very tactile quality and capturing the way she stood as she greeted each student at graduation.

Creation of the work involved ten sittings over a two month period for the artist to complete a clay model which was then cast in bronze.

To assist in the sculpting of Floella Benjamin’s hands and to reduce her time sitting, a plaster cast of her hands was taken.

The clay, which weighed 60 kg, was transported very carefully to London from the sculptor’s Ashburton studio for each sitting.  The final bronze sculpture was poured at the Arch Bronze Foundry in Putney. 

The most challenging part for the sculptor was Floella's hair as it was important not to make it heavy and flat.  So the sculptor had to find a way to give the clay life and lightness.

The easiest part for the sculptor was bringing the clay to life as Floella has such a buoyant personality, although  the artist said that sometimes it was difficult to see her expression as she had so many wonderful stories to tell of her childhood and coming to Britain when she was nine years old. He said that Floella was wonderful and immediately made him feel at ease.

Floella herself was surprised to see different aspects of herself when seen from different angles.  She could also see a resemblance of her father in the clay almost from the second sitting, as well as one of her brothers.

The siting of the work is close to the students Guild, where Floella is now ready to greet the students as they pass by.

The sculptor was Luke Shepherd, originally from Cardiff and now based in Ashburton, Devon.Luke is one of the few sculptors in the SW creating bronze portrait sculpture.  He finishes and patinates all his own bronzes having studied sculpture at Cardiff Art College and the Royal College of Art.

He said of his working methods, "A portrait bronze must capture an essence and be instantly recognisable.  I try to start with a totally open mind and let the sitter’s personality impress itself upon me.”

Luke has created portrait sculptures of celebrities and politicians and has works in national museums across the UK. His work has been exhibited at the Royal Academy London and the Académie Des Beaux-Arts, Paris.

Find out more about the artist[ here](https://www.luke-shepherd.com/)

Photograph: ©Luke Shepherd

*Artist* Luke Shepherd

*Title*  Baroness Floella Benjamin

*Material* Bronze

*Year* 2017

*Location*  Queen's Drive, on the lawn between the Queen's Building and the Students' Guild (Devonshire House)

 Luke Shepherd - Baroness Floella Benjamin

A stark, abstract sculpture, in a uniform, dramatic grey, this relief of curves and circles symbolises modernity, technology and communication. It was commissioned with relevance to the administrative function of Northcote House.

On the left of the main doorway, and above the student entrance to the extension of the building, you will see Richard Kindersley’s stark abstract sculpture in a uniform, dramatic grey.  The surface is embellished with a composition of curves and circles conjuring up a variety of human and totemic images.

Richard Kindersley studied lettering and sculpture at Cambridge School of Art and in his Father’s workshop. In 1970 he set up his own studio in London where he specialises in architectural lettering and sculpture.

Find out more about the artist [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Kindersley).

Photograph: ©University of Exeter

*Artist*  Richard Kindersley

*Title*  Abstract

*Material* Lead

*Year* 1975

*Location*  Exterior wall of Northcote House above the student entrance, Streatham Campus

Richard Kindersley- Abstract

This mosaic was gifted from the artist to the University on receiving her Honorary Doctorate in 2010.

Reflecting Me Reflecting You is an all embracing work combining elements from multi religious and philosophical conceits.

The unifying whole is at one and the same time containing and releasing - gathering in and letting go.

Elaine M Goodwin trained at Exeter College of Art and Design. She has exhibited extensively and has written several works on mosaics and design.

Her widely varied mosaic panels adorn walls and car parks throughout the city of Exeter.

Together with other prominent mosaic artists, she also founded Tessellated Expression for the 21st Century (TE-21), a group of professional artists dedicated to exhibitions of mosaics.

She was awarded Honorary Doctorate of Letters (DLitt) for outstanding contribution to the world of art, by the University of Exeter in July 2010.  She is the Founder President of BAMM (British Association of Modern Mosaic).

Find out more about the artist [here](https://www.elainemgoodwin.co.uk/index.php).

Photograph © Elaine M Goodwin

*Artist*  Elaine M Goodwin

*Title*  Reflecting Me Reflecting You

*Material* Venetian glass smalti, Ravenna mirror glass and white gold

*Year* 2010

*Location*  Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, Streatham Campus

Elaine M Goodwin - Reflecting Me Reflecting You

This mosaic is on long term loan to the University from the family of Roderick Ross MA.

Thought Waves is one form a series of works inspired by extensive journeying to Egypt in the early 1990s.
It brings together musings on time and evolution, life and death, endings and beginnings.

The materials are the traditional materials of Roman and Byzantine mosaics; Carrara marble and Venetian gold and glass.

Elaine M Goodwin trained at Exeter College of Art and Design. She has exhibited extensively and has written several works on mosaics and design.
Together with other prominent mosaic artists, she also founded Tessellated Expression for the 21st Century (TE-21), a group of professional artists dedicated to raising the profile of mosaic as self expression.

She is the Founder President of BAMM (British Association of Modern Mosaic). 

She was awarded Honorary Doctorate of Letters (DLitt) for outstanding contribution to the world of art, by the University of Exeter in July 2010.

[Find out more about the artist here](https://www.elainemgoodwin.co.uk/index.php).

Photograph: © University of Exeter



*Artist*    Elaine M Goodwin

*Title *     Thought Waves

*Material*     Carrara marble and Venetian gold and glass

*Year*      1994

*Location*    Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, Streatham Campus

Elaine M Goodwin - Thought Waves

This fountain is named after Anthony Minoprio, an architect on the committee of the Constance Fund, which was set up to promote water sculptures in public settings and which donated this water sculpture to the University in 1988.

The sculptures of Vivien ap Rhys Pryce are based on the great tradition of figurative art. Human figures have been her main source of inspiration and they form the themes of many of her sculptures.

Find out more about the artist [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivien_ap_Rhys_Pryce).

Photograph: John Melville © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Vivien ap Rhys Pryce

*Title*  The Minoprio Fountain

*Material* Bronze

*Year*  1988

*Location*  On the brick wall outside the Peter Chalk Centre, Streatham Campus

Vivien ap Rhys Pryce - The Minoprio Fountain

This recycled bronze sculpture, *Pharmakon*, installed in 2022, highlights the use of science to tackle the global burden of human fungal diseases. 

It invites viewers to find out more about the approaches the University's MRC Centre for Medical Mycology and the wider research community are taking to tackle the enormous challenges we face in combatting these diseases, whilst sharing a positive vision for the future.

The sculpture was created and developed by artist collective *Still/Moving*.  The artists explain, "*Pharmakon* attempts to reveal the invisible and often overlooked kingdom of pathogenic fungi that exists among us. It explores the intricate forms that mycelial networks can take as they move through a human host and the extraordinary ways our immune system responds. Inspired by the work that is happening inside MRC Centre for Medical Mycology, the sculpture uses recycled bronze to create an amorphous silhouette, which reminds us of our human frailty and the need for ecological balance.”

Find out more about the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology and Pharmakon [here](https://thefungalthreat.com/take-part-and-discover/art-meets-medical-mycology/pharmakon/).

Read the blog by Still/Moving about the scientific inspiration and creative process behind the development of the new sculpture, [here](https://www.artsandcultureexeter.co.uk/news/sculpting-science-behind-the-scenes-of-pharmakon). 

Fine out more about artist collective Still/Moving [here](https://stillmoving.org/).

*Artist*    Still/Moving

*Title*     Pharmakon

*Material*  Recycled Bronze

*Year*      2022

*Location*  Geoffrey Pope Lawn, Stocker Road, Streatham Campus

Still/Moving - Pharmakon 

“By Another Ocean III” is part of a long series of works exploring the way in which a single form can evoke compressed complexity through linear patterns.

The carved ‘loops’ are concentric and imply the possibility for division or extension if they were to unravel and open up. 

The most potent areas of expression in a sculpture can be where one form abuts and touches another which happens over the entire surface of this piece.

The carving is understated and my hope is that its presence is greater than its physical dimensions through a sense of compressed potential energy, like a seed.

Peter Randall-Page RA

Peter Randall-Page received an Honorary Doctorate from the University in 2010.  He is a Royal Academician.

Find out more about the artist [here](https://www.peterrandall-page.com/).

*Artist*  Peter Randall-Page

*Title* By Another Ocean III

*Material*  Kilkenny limestone

*Year* 1998

*Location*   Outside the Exeter Northcott Theatre, lawn by Stocker Road entrance

   On loan from the artist

   

Peter Randall-Page - By Another Ocean III

This piece strikingly evokes the form and movement of a seagull and was set into the Streatham Court patio for contemplation.

Its location near the beach stone fountain is a reminder of the close proximity of the sea.

Barbara Jones was a student at the Exeter College of Art from 1966 to 1969.

Photo: John Melville © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Barbara Jones

*Title*  Seagull

*Material*  Plate Steel

*Year*  1968

*Location*  Central Patio, Streatham Court, Streatham Campus

Barbara Jones - Seagull

Takamanda is a life-size Cross River gorilla that formed part of a 30-piece art trail of fibreglass gorillas around Exeter and Torbay over the summer of 2013, called The Great Gorillas Project - a project initiated by Paignton Zoo.

The design on Takamanda was created by a student at the Univeristy, Meriel Royal, whose idea was chosen from over 70 student entries in a competition to create a design idea for the gorilla. The inspiration behind her design was the idea of the gorilla making stops around the world, collecting stamps of other endangered animals before arriving in Exeter.

The gorilla is named after Takamanda National Park, a protected area in Cameroon, and the natural home of the Cross River gorilla. The winning design was chosen by a panel of judges, before being painted in front of students, staff and visitors, by local artist vin Jelly (aka Kevin Jones).

The artwork was initially displayed in the University's Forum Street through the Spring and Summer of 2013 before being auctioned along with 29 other pieces, helping to raise money for a gorilla conservation charity, the Cross River Project. It was purchased by the University at the auction and was returned to the Streatham Campus.

Geoff Pringle, the then Director of Campus Services, said in 2013,  "We wanted to bring Takamanda back to Exeter because the gorilla is unique to us - it was designed by one of our students and is bespoke to the University. Over the last few months, Takamanda has become a prominent feature, enhancing the Forum experience for students, staff, and visitors. We're also delighted to show our support for Paignton Zoo's Cross River Gorilla Project."

[More about the artist Vin Jelly here](http://jellyfineart.co.uk/?LMCL=IEypma)


*Artist*  Meriel Royal and Vin Jelly

*Title*  Takamanda

*Material*  Hand painted fibreglass

*Year*  2013

*Location*  Far cloister, Central Patio, Streatham Court, Streatham Campus

Meriel Royal and Vin Jelly - Takamanda

Georgia Scott’s works are organically inspired, using materials such as woven metal meshes, glass, low energy fibre optics and LEDs combined to produce an atmospheric blend of ethereal silhouettes, subtle shapes and light. She has extended this fascination with light, shadow and transparency by working with kiln-formed glass.

Dichroic glass is glass containing multiple micro-layers of metals or oxides which give the glass dichroic optical properties. The main characteristic of dichroic glass is that it has a particular transmitted colour and a completely different reflected colour, as certain wavelengths of light either pass through or are reflected. This causes an array of colour to be displayed. The colours shift depending on the angle of view.

Find out more about the artist [here](http://georgiascott.com/).

Photograph © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Georgia Scott

*Title*  Salix

*Material*  Dichroic Glass

*Year*  2012

*Location*  La Touche restaurant, Building:One, Business School, Streatham Campus

Georgia Scott - Salix

Elaine M Goodwin has always had a fascination with the Human form. She says it is, after all, the only organic form she is intimately connected with!  

The separateness and the coming together of one with another has been and continues to be a seminal theme for exploration by her since she was an art student. It is one which unceasingly inspires awe. This mosaic explores this concept...

Elaine M Goodwin was awarded Honorary Doctorate of Letters (DLitt) for outstanding contribution to the world of art, by the University of Exeter in July 2010.  She is the Founder President of BAMM (British Association of Modern Mosaic).

Find out more about the artist [here](https://www.elainemgoodwin.co.uk/).
 

Photograph: Courtesy Elaine M Goodwin

*Artist*  Elaine M Goodwin

*Title*  Touche

*Material*  Mosaic

*Year*  2008

*Location*  Xfi Café, Streatham Campus

Elaine M Goodwin - Touche

Simon Ruscoe graduated from Plymouth University with a degree in fine art in 2000. Since then he has worked on a number of commissions including sculptures for the University of Exeter, Exeter NHS Trust, The Eden Project and the Phoenix Arts Centre. He also works as a demonstrator in sculpture at the University of Plymouth.

He was commissioned by Exeter University Business School to make this piece.  Simon says that he was given real hope by the underlying ethos of the Business School.

‘By playing its part in addressing the issues business and society face today and those they are likely to face tomorrow.’

He discovered that the new Business School building had been built with regard to sustainable and responsible environmental factors and with a passion for reaching a carbon neutral target.

He also learnt about the School’s One Planet MBA degree (now the Exeter MBA) which focuses on the environmental, social and economic responsibility of future business leaders,

“The combination of very significant and asymmetric population growth over the next thirty years, the inevitable tendency for increased consumption of natural resources, and expected developments in the political economy make it essential that business people be educated in a manner, and with a curriculum, very different from that of the past.”

The Sculpture, made from 80% recycled steel aims to encompass and celebrate the Business School’s vision. Solid and strong hands are posed gently cupping our planet. Simon made the earth hollow to suggest its fragility and to underline the importance to nurture and protect.  The hands are holding the earth high to suggest this should be our highest and upmost priority.

Find out more about the artist [here](https://www.ruscoe.info/).

Photograph: ©University of Exeter

*Artist* Simon Ruscoe

*Title* In our Hands

*Material*  Powder-coated and Galvanised Steel

*Year* 2012

*Location* Building:One – piazza

Simon Ruscoe - In our Hands

Acquired in 1974 for the opening of the Amory building, this work in bronze is an expression of being cramped. It was produced at a time when the artist was inhabiting his abstracts with figures.

Peter Thursby was an Exeter artist and a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. Thought of primarily as an abstract artist, for a time he incorporated figures inside his forms, as in this example.

Photograph: John Melville © University of Exeter

*Artist*  Peter Thursby

*Title* Double Compartment Podman (3/6)

*Material*  Bronze

*Year*  Acquired 1974

*Location*  Foyer, Amory Building, Streatham Campus


Peter Thursby - Double Compartment Podman (3/6)

Exeter mosaicist and author Elaine M. Goodwin is well represented throughout the city. This piece represents balance through symmetry and shows the bird of peace spreading its protective wings over the open book of law. The muted colours accentuate the use of fool's gold (pyrites) and gold from South Africa.

This mosaic, with its sparkling silver and soft gold tesserae, has the following inscription; “Law is a means of protecting and securing balanced and peaceful relations between people”. 

It was commissioned by Mervin Bennun, Lecturer in Law at the University, who presented it to the Law Faculty on his retirement in 1997. 

Find out more about the artist[ here](https://www.elainemgoodwin.co.uk/).

*Artist*  Elaine M Goodwin

*Title*  Law

*Material*  Mosiac

*Year*  Presented to the University in 1997

*Location* Foyer, Amory Building

Elaine M Goodwin - Law

This triptych was specially commissioned to commemorate the life of Caroline Harry Thomas QC, who studied Law at the University of Exeter from 1975-78.  She became one of the most distinguished practitioners in medical law of her generation.  Sadly, she passed away in 2011 but will be remembered as an inspiring role model and a wonderful lifelong friend to many of her Exeter contemporaries.

Friends from the University of Exeter donated money in Caroline’s memory to establish a lasting memorial, in order to provide inspiration to current and future generations of Law students at Exeter.

Caroline was proud of her Welsh heritage and as such her family thought it a fitting tribute to choose Mark Cooke, an artist who works predominantly with Welsh slate, for the sculpture commission.

The piece consists of three sections of Welsh slate, each made of many-faceted inserts; some are coarse and some are finished with linseed oil. The variety of textures and colours of the slate shows off the beauty of this natural medium to great effect.

Mark Cooke explains that working with stone is a means of transformation. This piece represents a modification of a part of the Earth in the name of shared social memory for someone who is no longer present.  It is an attempt at solidifying the transience of life by those who want to perpetuate into the future the achievements of a life lived. The basic element of rock is brought out of its existential existence and socialised in an act of alteration.

Mark’s design ideas draw upon natural and abstract forms. He works in an open ended way which enables the creation of unexpected and unplanned designs.


*Artist*  Mark Cooke

*Title*  Transform

*Material* Triptych made from Welsh slate

*Year* 2013

*Location*  Law School foyer area, First Floor, Amory Building

Mark Cooke - Transform

The University of Exeter’s beautiful Streatham Campus hosts 40 sculptures, some indoors and some in the open. The walk includes sculptures by Dame Barbara Hepworth and Peter Randall-Page, together with other renowned and emerging artists.