The Sawtooth Ramps

'Sawtooth Ramps', 1992-93, Motorola-M8, Bathgate, Scotland, commissioned by Motorola. The site-specific earthwork is situated on Motorola's 95 acre site, adjacent to the M8 motorway, the major east-west axis route. The landscape was addressed as a whole, and three inter-related sculptures have been designed in accord with their surroundings. The viewing is progressional from the M8 motorway, and more contemplative along the walking path, within the property. The artworks are constructed from local natural materials which integrate with the landscape, connect to regional history, past industry and geological formations. The earthform, with geotech reinforcement, is 1,000 ft. long. The Seven Ramps are each 35 ft. high x 116 ft. wide x 145 ft. long; the Platform, is 142 ft. wide; the height of the Platform & Ramps is 500 ft. A Stream has been re-directed adjacent to the earthwork, 1,000 ft. long, connoting a moat. The inference of the sculpture is one of solidity, connection to place.

Barum Stenning

‘Barum Stenning’, 2005-07, Leighton&Geist, Artist Team. Barnstaple Western Bypass sculpture, commissioned by Devon County Council and the Department of Transport, UK. to create integrated sculptural markers for the ambitious new road scheme in North Devon, England. The sculpture is reflective of the history of the area and incorporates 12 stone & steel structures each 30 feet long filled with ‘elevated’ Devonian Slate slabs. Two monumental Topiary Hedgewall forms, 20 feet high x 60 feet long, are sited in the extension splitter areas on either side of the squareabout. Their minimal form creates a sense of grounding and quiet, while the uplifted slate, belying its weight and volume, appears active and in motion. The artworks complement each other in their presence, alluding to a place of old. The sculpture defines a centering of the old and new in Barnstaple.

Passage

‘Passage’, 2001-03, Patricia Leighton & Del Geist, Artist Team. Sculpture commissioned by G.S.A. Art-in-Architecture Program, for the new US Government Border Station in Roosville, Montana. The site-specific artwork pays homage to the movement of time and people within the region; it’s surrounding geological markers; boulders carried by flash floods at the end of the last glaciation; and the land usage by peoples from 8,000 years ago to present time. Five Precambrian Belt-rock boulders, 1.3 billion years old, each weighing 20 to 30 tons are sited among 18 earthworks, along a 1,000 foot corridor. The earthworks bring to mind the sand dunes and glacial cirques of the area. The boulders are elevated on steel legs alluding to a sense of carrying or uplifting, a metaphor of their history.

Seven Runes

'Seven Runes', 1990-92, commissioned by Broward County Art in Public Places for the Headquarters of the Department emphasize a relationship between the architecture, the lake and the surrounding landscape. An earthcut has been made between the lake and the land, creating a wetlands area, indigenous to the South of Florida. Seven fossilized coral limestone structures have been installed, each 8 ft. apart, in a curved formation that moves from the lake to the shallow cutout pool on the land. The seven stones, each approximately 20 tons, stand 15 ft. high x 6 ft. square at the base, tapering to 4 ft. square at the top. The earthcut is 25 ft. long x 16 ft. wide. The overall length of the sculpture is 95 feet.

Outside In

‘Outside In’, 2004. Three Ziggarat Ramps Installation, Gate P, Gabriele Tergit Promenade 15, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, Germany. The installation relates to the concept design for the new Schonefeld Airport – Ziggarat’s in a Lake. See slides 33 & 34. The sculpture is designed to be experienced from within the property, and from the air.

Paraclet

‘Paraclet’, 2000, Ilindentci Sculpture Center, Ilindentci, Bulgaria. I constructed a site-specific sculpture related to the land, and history of Bulgaria. A marble room has been built into a hillside with stalactite stones presented as icons. Room dimensions: 12ft long x 8ft wide x 8ft high. Interior stone: 7ft high x 7ft wide x 5ft depth. Entry stone: 6ft high x 6" wide x 4.5 depth. There are cuts on the roof of the room so as light falls on the interior stone at certain times of the day.and cuts in the ceiling of the room throw light on the interior stone. The sculpture is reflective of the ambience in Bulgarian monasteries.

Wyndings

'The Wyndings', 1996-02, an earthwork sculpture commission in collaboration with Del Geist, for Stirling Council, Stirling, Scotland, coordinated by the art organisation Independent Public Art Inc, Edinburgh. The sculpture lies adjacent to the new roadway leading into the ancient City of Stirling, alongside the River Forth, with views of the Wallace Monument, the 12th Century Bell Tower of Cambuskenneth Abbey and Stirling Castle. The earthwork is 670 feet long,300ft wide, by 48 feet high above the river diminishing to 25 feet. There are walking/cycle paths around the sculpture's perimeter and a hiking trail across the back of the sculpture. The earthwork design is loosely based on an extended Pictish Key Pattern. The evidences show that the Key Patterns of Britain and Ireland arrived many centuries before the Romans, and that the peoples who brought them made contacts in their migrations with the tribes that later became the makers of the Greek Empire. Some of the unique examples of Celtic pagan religious symbols such as knotwork, keys and spirals, carved on cross-slab stones are particular to Scotland and a fine example of a 12th sculpture/earthwork. (Cancelled 2002, at construction phase, due to soil pollution)

Tinny Bank

‘Tinny Bank, A74 to M6’, 1994-95. Commissioned by the Scottish Office Roads
Directorate, Dept. of Transportation, UK, to produce concept designs for a 1 mile section of the M6 express Highway linking England to Scotland. The site is situated on a hillside in a dramatic region of Northern England and the artwork’s progressional design reflects the history and geology of the area. A retaining wall is given specialised treatment with bold textured panels and 'Leaning Forms' 28 ft high, in cast concrete. Entry markers are situated at both approaches to the one mile section - at the Southern end, an earthwork delineated with stone walling, 'The Seven Hillocks' and at the North, 'The Standing Forms'. The hillside has been restored to moorland, a sheepfold restored and accentuated with earthforming.

Mound of the Chairn

'Meall a Chairn' , 1988, Glasgow Garden Festival, Glasgow, Scotland, commissioned by the Arts Council of Great Britain and the Henry Moore Foundation. The site-specific installation, (Mound of the Cairn), incorporates an earth mound, a turfed Ziggarat Ramp, 15 trees and five seats. The mound is 8 ft. high x 160 ft. diameter at the base and 80 ft. diameter at the top. The symmetry of the contemplative space is accentuated by the placement of the trees, the circular area on top is used as a performance space. The ramp, 9.6 ft. x 35 ft x 14 to 6 ft. is constructed from stone with an overlay of turf. The five seats, 4 ft. x 3 ft. x 2 ft. stone, turf and wood.

Silurian Cant

'Silurian Cant', 1986, Grizedale Forest Sculptures, Cumbria, England - a site-specific installation consisting of 4 works constructed in drystone walling technique with mounding and turfing; each structure approximately 12 tons of Silurian slate, dimensions of each - 6.5 ft. x 20 ft. x 4.5 ft. Overall area covered 80 ft. x 200 ft.

Vigil

'Vigil', 1986, Grizedale Forest Sculpture Park, a site-specific sculpture installation of three mixed media constructions installed in an avenue of fir trees. Materials: oak, sisal, birch and beech, each structure approximately 19 ft. x 5 ft. x 3 ft. Overall area 14 ft. x 150 ft.

Wake

'Wake', 1983-4 Djerassi Foundation, Woodside, California - three mixed media constructions installed in the redwood forest, materials: sisal, madrone wood, fir, redwood, each structure approximately 16 ft. x 5 ft. x 4 ft.

Short Biography

Artist Statement

Patricia Leighton has been making art in the public realm for over 25 years, creating large-scale permanent commissions worldwide. Many of her projects relate to transportation, and include elements such as: utilizing excess and available soil on site to create large earthwork sculptures, incorporating stone and indigenous materials to relate to the environment, creating feature markers to be viewed from the air, and siting progressive sculptures adjacent to freeways. Patricia views the integration of art and site as a collaborative process. She is able to work in tandem with professionals from diverse fields such as ecology, engineering, architecture, and landscape architecture, and believes working on a diverse creative and problem-solving team is often the core of successful projects. Patricia’s sculptures function on a number of levels, enabling a wide public to relate to the work. Her earthworks and freestanding sculptures reflect the historical and environmental specificity of their setting. Even when seen quickly from a vehicle, they are intended to captivate their audience and instill contemplation. Most recently Patricia collaborated with Del Geist on Barum Stenning in Barnstable, England, and on Passage, at the US Border Station in Roosville, MT.