Portal, 2003, Green Hammamat breccia
Hammamat breccia is perhaps the oldest quarried decorative stone known to man. Images on the walls of the quarry acknowledge through the millennia activities of expeditions sent by pre-dynastic kings. Xerses of Persia, Darius and Philip of Macedonia all sent expeditions to collect Hammamat breccia. An entrance to the exhibition this portal welcomes the visitor into space of contemplation and peace. It echoes the Peter Jenkins’ narthex at St Paul’s Harringey where Cox created a reredos in travertino and an altar and font in porphyry and Hammamat breccia. Polished on one side and not on the reverse, the green breccia blends into the green meadow, playing on the contrast of the mineral and organic worlds present throughout the exhibition.