Oona Culley was appointed to develop an artwork for New Radcliffe House, a new health centre for Oxford's Jericho community, and the first building to be completed on the University of Oxford's Radcliffe Observatory Quarter (ROQ). The ROQ is one of the largest developments the University has undertaken for more than a century.
Oona Culley’s artwork Branching Forms can be seen on the exterior glazing of the main entrance of New Radcliffe House extending inside the building in areas accessible to the community. The artwork is informed by both the historic context of the site as the original location of the Radcliffe Infirmary, and its present function as a home for GP surgeries and the University’s Department of Primary Care Health Sciences.
Culley’s artwork draws on the restorative powers of nature, visually connecting the natural landscape outside the building with the interior landscape of the human body. The artist comments, ‘Looking at the delicate network structure of tree branches I noticed a visual echo with the branching structures of blood vessels and neurons within our own bodies. I became interested in incorporating the shapes of branching structures of the human anatomy into the landscape design.’
About the works, Culley stated:
‘Looking at the delicate network structure of tree branches I noticed a visual echo with the branching structures of blood vessels and neurons within our own bodies. Taking into consideration the history of the site as the original location of the Radcliffe Infirmary, and the present use of the building as a GP surgery and base for the University’s medical science division, I became interested in incorporating the shapes of branching structures of the human anatomy into the landscape design.’
Oona Culley trained at the Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art, Oxford and the Royal College of Art, London.
This commission forms part of Tracing Venus the public art programme for the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, curated by Modus Operandi Art Consultants.
