Woman and Fish statue in Millwall Park, Isle of Dogs
Woman and Fish sculpture in Millwall Park, Isle of Dogs with the buildings of the Canary Wharf area behind
Last week I was in the Island Gardens park and walking along the river towards Cubitt Town on a continuation of my Isle of Dogs challenge.
Funnily enough though, one of my favourite photos was something I spotted when I was on my way home. I’d never seen this sculpture before and it’s really attractive!
I was intending to talk about the walk on that day, the photos I took and all the things I saw but I’ll keep that for another day because when I looked for the name of this statue I found a very interesting story.
It’s titled Woman and Fish but this isn’t the original statue, which was created in 1951 by the artist Frank Dobson, originally from Clerkenwell. He was considered one of the pioneers of modern Britsh sculpture and was a professor of sculpture at the Royal College of Art. The original statue served as a fountain and was placed in Frank Dobson Square in Clerkenwell in 1963. However, it was destroyed through vandalism over several years and now nothing remains but an empty plinth on that spot. A very sad end to what should should have been a tribute to a great artist, one of his sculptures in a square named after him!
In 2006, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets commissioned a replica by the artist Antonio Lopez Reche. It has local links in that it was forged in Limehouse. Clerkenwell’s loss is the Isle of Dog’s gain! This is a beautiful statue and the setting is stunning. The spring flowers and foliage and daisy strewn grass set it off to perfection.
If you want to visit, It’s very close to the Island Gardens DLR station. Just head northwards around a hundred yards from the station. A bonus at the moment are some trees in blossom along the path.
The information I found about the statue comes from a blog called Inspiring City and I’ve linked to it here if you’d like to read more.
After staying in for most of the winter, I’ve found it quite hard to get into the swing of getting out regularly again. I blame it on Chris Whitty and his sad eyes! Every time I was tempted to go out, I could hear him say “Is it absolutely necessary?” I’m glad I did it though. It wasn’t easy but if it saved me from spreading the virus to even one other person, passing it on to my family or taking up a precious hospital bed, then it’s all worth it.
Luckily, I have no desire to mob JD Sports or crowd into a queue outside Primark so I can be cautious and see how things develop. One benefit was that I was really creative in my head during that time. We all know that’s the easy part though so the real test comes when I try to execute my plans over the coming months.
I have already approached a couple of bars to see whether they’d like photos of their outside areas as people flock back to them. No takers yet but I’ve got my business cards and website ready so that’s something I’ll keep in mind if I see businesses I’d love to take photos for.
I hope that spring is a new awakening for you all too and that this re-opening of our lives goes as planned.
Loren x