Stephanie Tudor's new commission 'Petrae' installed

Commissioned by Ginkgo Projects for Mollie’s Diner in Bristol, Petrae by Stephane Tudor was installed in November 2022. Here’s more about the commission in Stephanie’s words…

Petrae
(Latin, noun - the plural, feminine for rock/ boulder/ shaped stone as used in building)

Cribbs Causeway is believed to be built over the traces of a Roman road connecting Gloucester to Sea Mills, which was one of the main routes to the crossing of the Severn Estuary, known during the Roman period as Portus Abonae.

Taking the Roman history of the area as a starting point for my research, I explored the physical layering of history in our landscapes, erosion as a measure of time, artefacts, and everyday materials.

Petrae features 3 pieces, seemingly rising through the earth in the garden of Mollie’s Diner, a contemporary destination surrounded by ring roads and new developments.

These extruded stone forms nod to the history of the site, and each piece features a different visual representation of erosion over time- cracked, chipped and potholed- playing with the idea that these stones have endured the ever-changing landscape surrounding them over the last 1500 years.

Materials include black grogged clay, Stoneycombe limestone from the Southwest, and slate and copper from reclamation yards in Bristol.