Ptolemy Mann: Oceanic Ray
Title: Oceanic Ray
Artist: Ptolemy Mann
Location: St Peter’s, Battersea (C of E)
Date: 2018
This work was shortlisted for the A+C Award for Art in a Religious Context 2019.
This new, modern church was a collaboration between the architects Greenhill Jenner and Portal Architecture who were commissioned to replace the original church destroyed by fire in the 1970s. Early in the design process, the artist Ptolemy Mann was invited to submit a proposal for a series of glazed link windows featured throughout the building totalling 200m² of printed glass.
The brief was to create an artwork reminiscent of fish scales to evoke St Peter as a fisherman. Several ideas were submitted resulting in a complex, colourful spectrum of faceted shapes echoing fish scales developed from a series of photographs taken by the artist for the project. Mann proposed the notion of the building shifting through temperatures from warm colour found at the front of the triangular site moving through to the cool oceanic colour’s found within the largest window at the rear.
It was crucial that the glass created a strong sense of place and a dynamic identity but also that it was transparent enough to let light through into the functioning spaces throughout the building. Without trying to mimic traditional leaded stained glass the intention was to create an elegant yet modern re-interpretation, bringing a sense of ethereal light and transcendence into the glazed spaces. The main worship space at the back of the building is flooded with gentle aquatic colour, uplifting and meditative. Mann worked closely in consultation with the client to ensure the artwork integrated harmoniously with each space and its respective use.
Ptolemy Mann studied textile design at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design and later pursued a Master’s in constructed textiles at the Royal Academy. Her large-scale colourful woven works in the Bauhaus tradition have been exhibited in the UK and internationally and she has undertaken many site-specific commissions, including hospitals and the Blavatnik building restaurant at the Tate Modern.
Further Information
Medium: Glass
Permanent display
See Ptolemy Mann’s ‘Oceanic Ray’ on the Ecclesiart map here.
Commissioner: The PCC of St Peter’s Battersea