Installed as a beacon of hope in difficult times Rainbow Tree celebrates community, connection, diversity and collaboration. Designed to inspire our imaginations and actions to create a brighter, more compassionate, inclusive and caring future.
Thank you to the Albany for their support in this installation. If you have enjoyed seeing the Rainbow Tree please donate to local charities and food banks and pass on the gift of hope.
Angela McMahon is a local artist working with discarded materials to create beautiful and thought-provoking sculptures, installations and drawings that cast a spotlight on the environmental footprints and dilemmas of the Anthropocene consumer society.
Rainbow Tree was originally installed on the top of the Telegraph Hill Community Centre in SE14 for Christmas 2020 as a beacon of hope during the Covid-19 lockdown. Engaging with the history of Lewisham and Telegraph Hill’s roots as a signalling station it celebrates community, connection, diversity and collaboration. The plastic poster tubes used to create Rainbow Tree were rescued from the recycling after a corporate marketing mail out was cancelled. The structure was inspired by the hexagonal organic carbon ring molecules from which the plastic is made and the substance itself. Plastic is a polymer which comes from the Greek ‘poly’ meaning many and ‘mer’ meaning unit. The natural hexagonal shape of the carbon ring is extrapolated from micro to macro to create a robust and elegant sculpture.