Wheal Art Weekend was a site specific event held on 29 - 30 July 2006 at South Wheal Frances, a disused mine workings near Camborne in Cornwall (World Heritage Site). The event was organised by Alison Sharkey of Level 2 (opens in new window). 11 artists, with a diverse range of practices, were asked to produce work in response to the site. These photographs were taken at a dawn site-visit by Stephanie whilst making a recording for the sound work Other Shores.

After an underground tour of a nearby abandoned tin and copper mine Stephanie developed the sculpture Boy Workings for the Winding House (above). "I found it interesting that what we see are solid remains, much of which are underground, yet the nature of the people that worked the mines was transient and ephemeral. They migrated in large numbers, like flocks of birds seeking better weather; women and children worked the ore, but what's remembered are the men emerging from the bowels of the earth. I wanted to put back a reminder of the vulnerability of the people that worked there, particulary boys as young as eight years old, the age of my son".

Stephanie made a copper and steel wire body-case using her son as a model, and inside it tied a desiccated fledgling that fluttered in the breeze "like a heart beating", as one visitor commented. The sculpture was placed on a large concrete 'bier', part of the fabric of the cathedral-like building, with it's high, arched windows and raised platforms. The small body-case in the cavernous space of the building was a reminder of the frailty of people that endured hardships beyond our consciousness.