Blitz Timber 14

Just to the north of Anthony Gormley's sculptures on Crosby beach is what locals know as the Brick Beach. Here, the rubble of the Blitz on Liverpool was deposited to act as a defence against coastal erosion. For many years I have walked that beach, picking up curiously gnarled pieces of timber. At first I thought they were driftwood, etched into sculptural shapes by the sea, but I came to realise that they were being revealed by the wind and sea from the war rubble I was walking on. It dawned on me that these weren't just bits of wood, these wormeaten pieces of door frame and floorboard, some showing the marks of fire, were part of the history of my home town. I decided to give these beautiful historical remnants of the bombed homes of past Liverpudlians a new lease of life as coat racks. Each has been dried, cleaned up (but not too much), planed flat at the back, treated with preservative, and adorned with hand carved hooks from other reclaimed hardwoods. A piece of Liverpool's history and a functional piece of art in its own right, this wonderfully gnarly piece was originally a floorboard: you can just make out the tongue-and-groove at each end and clearly it has had a section cut out to accommodate some feature of the building, which all adds to its character in my eyes. Into it I have screwed, glued and embedded five very chunky hooks of varying sizes, individually hand carved from reclaimed Brazilian mahogany. Waxed finish, L 850 mm x H 150 mm x D 70 mm.