– I really love the materials I work with – I think I'm trying to make them become their best.

British artist Diane Maclean is both sculptor and “environmental artist”. She studied to become a sculptor in the 1980s, and she has been working with large scale forms, often in stainless steel, since the nineties.

Her work Open Book is found in the Ekeberg Park. This piece was inspired by a unique manuscript, Donald Macleans bibliography of all known Gaelic texts. It blends a world of books and knowledge with nature and its landscapes. But as they look at it, the spectators themselves become part of the oeuvre: As you stand before Open book you see your own reflection.

Diane Maclean makes use of an interaction between sound, light and movement. Industrial materials respond to nature and naturally occurring phenomena. The supposedly conflicting effect is the basis for a number of her works, as in Open book. The oxidized surface reacts to light and reflects the landscape around it.

© Diane Maclean / BONO

Open Book, 2010.

Stainless steel, 240 × 280 × 120 cm.