Sculpture gives leafy canopy to atrium

An eye-catching sculpture, privately funded by Octagon Healthcare, is now providing a canopy of multi-coloured leaves spanning the width of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital’s East Atrium.

The £70,000 Sokari Douglas Camp sculpture “Branches”, which has been entirely funded by Octagon Healthcare, consists of five suspended branches made of steel, with leaves sculpted from steel sheets and glass sections in red, yellow, brown and blue colours.

An award-winning artist, Sokari Douglas Camp was selected from more than 30 applicants for this major hospital arts project and she trained at the Central School of Art and the Royal College of Arts in London.

She described the hospital commission in the following terms: “I will convey a green feeling through the way the material is treated. I will be sculpting lush leaves cut from steel sheets, and adding a sprinkling of coloured leaves in the form of glass inserted into cut-out leaves. The colours added will be predominantly green with some yellows and reds, browns and blues”.

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital arts co-ordinator Emma Jarvis said: “Branches is an exciting sculpture for one of the hospital’s main open spaces. The East Atrium is light and airy and the sculpture transforms an already impressive space into an even more warm and welcoming one.”

The Hospital Arts Project relies on grant giving organisations and charitable donations to improve patient and staff areas with works of art.