We are enormously proud of Art teacher, sculptor and Old Sennockian Oliver Barratt, whose sculpture Breathing Space has been enjoyed by many this week at RHS Chelsea 2026.
To breath is to engage the rhythmic intimacy of life, to act out the perpetual dialogue between the tangible exterior world and the hidden world of the interior. To weave the fabric of earth into the energy of the self. It is totally unconscious and a primal connection to mortality. To breath is to live.
In this work, two highly finished forms are perched opposite each other in a perpetual embrace. Connected by a thread, they echo each other’s movement, accommodate each other’s space and support each other’s weight. The outer shell of the forms creates a distinct enclosure, a darker protected interior space. Embedded in this alliance of interior and exterior is the tension between holding together and pulling apart, the breathing in and the breathing out. The energy of the work acts out a perpetual truce, a type of harmony built out of opposites.
The painted surface of the sculpture is established by many layers of thinly tinted lacquer. This too is in a state of flux, organically drifting between pale veridians and deep aubergine. A fusion of commentary colours.
Commissioned by garden designer Angus Thompson for RHS Chelsea 2026 – Asthma and Lung UK Breathing Space Garden.
The garden is a serene woodland – edge garden designed as a restorative “ breathing space “ for people with lung condition.
After Chelsea the whole garden will be relocated to a specialist Lung hospital in Rotherham.