Sculpture to pay homage to Welsh exodus to USA

Bruce Sinclair Local Democracy Reporter

Plans to install a sculpture artwork at a west Wales harbour to commemorate the exodus of 36 Welsh locals to the USA more than 200 years ago, and the heartbreaking loss of one young girl on that perilous journey, have been submitted to Ceredigion County Council.

Cymdeithas Cymru – Ohio 2018, the Aberaeron-Ohio Association, is seeking permission to site the artwork, entitled The Lost Girl, by the Tourist Information Centre, Quay Parade, on the north pier of Aberaeron’s harbour.

‘The Lost Girl’/’Y Ferch Goll,’ designed by Sebastien Boyesen Design Consultancy will commemorate the exodus of 36 Welsh locals from the Cilcennin area of Ceredigion to Ohio in 1818, leaving from the town’s harbour to escape a life of poverty and oppression.

Support

A supporting statement accompanying the application says: “The enterprising emigrants were suffering oppression and poverty due to an increase in population, high taxes and rents and a series of poor harvests in 1815 and 1816.

“Ohio seemed like the dream chance of a new life. Whole families embarked on this perilous journey, initially leaving from Aberaeron to catch a larger ship in Liverpool.

“Of the 36 who started the journey, all arrived in America safely apart from one young girl, called ‘Mary’, and it is her story that we decided to focus on. Through discussion with the steering group, an idea was formed that ‘Mary’ would be the central character in the development of the artwork.

“In many ways, her untold story represents the true nature of the perilous journey in a wooden ship to America more than 200 years ago – that nothing is certain or can be taken for granted. Without doubt, it must have been a heart-breaking conclusion to their fantastical voyage and aspirations.”

Illusion

The proposed sculpture uses a technical fabrication process called ‘Anamorphosis,’ an optical illusion where distorted image come into focus when viewed from a certain location, the statement says.

It says it “was felt that the ‘anamorphic’ element  – the coming into focus – was the perfect analogy and vehicle for our representation of the journey made by the emigrants. At the commencement of their pilgrimage they had no clear idea of what lay ahead – the blur of uncertainty”.

“Only time and distance would bring that vision into alignment. It is the hope that viewers of the work will be able to experience this inarticulate beating of a shared heart looking for clarity and purpose – together through life – and that the loss of ‘Mary’ was a price worth paying to claim their new life in Ohio. May she always be remembered.”

The proposed sculpture would be fabricated from strips of laser-cut steel in a three-dimensional grid, allowing it to come into focus at a distance of 25 metres, with glimpses of ‘Mary’ seen before the full image is revealed.

The application will be considered by Ceredigion planners at a later date.