RESTAURANT: GARDEN OF DREAMS

Emma Varley, Artist

Client: Multiplex Construction Europe Ltd. and NHS Lothian
Funded by: NHS Lothian Charity’s Tonic Arts Programme
Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity

On the fourth floor of the hospital is Emma Varley’s Garden of Dreams. Situated in the restaurant which is open to all, it provides a moment of reflection and calm, to sit over a meal or a drink and just dream.

As Emma says, “The work unfolds over six large scale light boxes which are a re-interpretation of the existing stained glass from the old children’s hospital. The final artworks are real and imagined; snapshots of a wider landscape captured in portrait format to emphasise elements of strata linking to the local Lothian environment.”

“Scottish flora and fauna dominate each scene, the hare perched up high keeps watch over the Scottish meadows whilst being observed by the sun. A view over Loch and Glen with a spring rabbit and swan who observe a single weed bearing its intricate root system, referencing energy and power echoed by wind turbines and the moon. A stag and eagle look towards the mountains protected by the Willow pattern plate – a reference to dining, storytelling, love and escapism.”