Sharing Table
Florence Gardens, Chipping Sodbury
Artist Owen Bullett was commissioned to create a site specific artwork for Florence Gardens, a new development of 60 homes on the northern edge of Chipping Sodbury in South Gloucestershire, close to Sodbury Common. The project is funded by the developer Cotswold Homes as part of their planning obligations on the site. The artist was appointed through a selected shortlist and created a new permanent artwork for the pond and orchard area at the northern end of the development. The artwork is an outdoor table and benches designed to encourage residents to use the green public open space – on the edge of the development close to the pond – as a place to gather and spend time outside. Chipping Sodbury Town Council were involved in the artist selection process, and during the artist’s design development process Owen held a public workshop in the library where he invited local residents of Chipping Sodbury to make prints from marks they created on a series of tiles. These marks were echoed by the artist in his carved designs for the table supports of the final artwork, and two panels of the original tiles made by residents will be mounted in Chipping Sodbury Library, linking the Sharing Table to the town. The artwork was installed in June 2021.
About the artist
Owen is a furniture maker, designer and sculptor based in London. He works primarily in wood, metal and stone. He graduated from Camberwell College in London in 2003, and gained an MA from the Royal College of Art in 2005. Owen launched Owen Bullett Editions, a collection of sculptural furniture, in 2018. The artist’s works become animators of space or performers creating events in particular places. Elements of his work include boulders for sitting, benches, tables and planters.
In 2019 Owen completed The Clearing, a joint project with Smith & Newton Architects for Waltham Forest Council, a Making Places commission for the London Borough of Culture. He has also collaborated with Heerenhuis on Loverocker, a loveseat shown at Salone de Mobile in Milan. His work was included at Chatsworth Flower Show in 2018.