FOREST Arts in New Milton invite you to join artist Mary Branson as she speaks about New Dawn, her light sculpture which is on permanent display at the Houses of Parliament.

Mary Branson has been a practicing artist for more than a decade and she specialises in creating large-scale installations using sculpture, light and sound.

In March 2014 she became Artist in Residence at the Houses of Parliament and began researching the archives of the Suffrage movement with a brief to produce a new permanent artwork for the Palace of Westminster.

On June 7 this year, one hundred and fifty years to the day since the campaign for women’s votes began, New Dawn was revealed in Westminster Hall. The sculpture is located above the entrance to St Stephen’s Hall, the site of numerous demonstrations, so that viewers of the artwork will literally stand in the footsteps of the hundreds of thousands of women and men who came to Parliament to fight for women’s right to the vote.

Measuring over six metres high, the massive scale of New Dawn reflects the size of the campaign, and the unique hand-blown glass scrolls that make up its dawning sun represent the many individuals who were involved in the movement and the special contribution they made to modern democracy.

In her illustrated talk, on Tuesday September 20, Mary will explain how her research informed the design of the sculpture, which takes inspiration from the visual language of Parliament itself. The glass scrolls are a direct reference to the Act Room where the legislation which brought women the vote are stored. They are mounted on a portcullis – the principal emblem of Parliament – raised over the entrance to St. Stephen’s Hall and symbolising women’s long-awaited access to democracy.

New Dawn has also been influenced by the campaigners it celebrates. The rainbow of colours reflects the numerous organisations that were involved in the struggle, whilst the title of the piece comes from the language of the campaigners themselves, many of whom conceived of the vote as offering a new dawn for women.

Tickets: forest-arts.co.uk or 01425 612393.