The internationally renowned, Swansea-based artist Alexander Beleschenko created the sculpture which sits in the centre of the Siambr. Beleschenko’s response to the brief for the ‘the Assembly at the heart of Wales’ is a two-metre wide glass composition, which stands slightly proud of the Siambr’s oak flooring.
The work was formed by painting the abstract design onto plates of 10mm thick toughened glass, smashing the sheets and letting the smashed glass rest and form on a mould. Resin was added to the formed work to stabilise it, and the resulting dome was filled with resin and glass. The base of the work is a toughened glass sheet, and it rests on a steel frame. The work is lit from underneath using fibre-optic lighting.
Artist’s Comments
“Circular and domed, the glass piece centrally placed in the debating chamber appears to rise out of the floor. This configuration gives expression to a dynamic that is one of emergence, a reflection and statement about the Assembly itself which is new and emerging. The imagery that embellishes the form is abstract and of a swirling pattern. It is a central focal point from which radiate arcs of different sized dots. The dynamic of these marks express a duality of forces – that which radiates out also conversely converge back to the centre. This is how I see the working of the Assembly in that there is a confluence of listening and decision making.
The artwork is a composite of different layers of glass of different thicknesses, bonded together. They are fractured and then reformed to create the desired form. This fracturing process creates a subtle and light capturing surface.”
