'Ocean Bowl'
March 2026
Temporal | Spatial | Spiritual
Artist in Residence Exhibition
St Julian’s Church
​
The 'Ocean Bowl', like others in the 'Bowls in a Fragile World' series that artist-in-residence Debra Shipley has created is made from junk mail, used envelopes, and packaging taken from the Julian Shrine and as such is polluted with fragments of plastic and other chemicals. 'Ocean Bowl' was inspired by the location of Julian’s cell situated as it is near to the River Wensum where once was a bustling medieval port linking the trading city of Norwich with global trade routes across the oceans.
​
Commenting on the bowl, Debra said:
I have been thinking about why Julian chose to be an anchoress in the busy port area of the city which would have been a particularly noisy, dirty and dangerous part of Norwich. Her cell was situated near busy roads and many people from near and far would have passed by. She appears, to me, to have deliberately positioned herself in a busy place and perhaps offered a small oasis of calm. Certainly today Julian’s shrine offers a small place of peace to all who visit. I have also been thinking about how we are polluting our rivers and seas, and the fact that plastic has now been found in the very deepest oceans. I incorporated a variety of seaweeds into the 'Ocean Bowl' as symbols of our shared global waters.
'Ocean Bowl' is currently on display in the Julian Shrine, and more of Debra’s art work can be seen in our Visitor Centre.
​
Our Artist in residence has also made a large artwork from a long piece of plastic which came into the Julian Centre as wrapping for a delivery. She transformed the 3.5 meter long bubble wrap into a hanging sculpture, adding over 250 small images created during her first 6 months of residency, all relating to Julian Shrine, church, gardens and visitor centre. Fr Richard, the Shrine's Priest Director, helped Debra install the artwork beside the Lady Chapel in St John’s Timberhill in Norwich where it can be viewed daily.
Commenting on work Debra said:
When I saw the huge piece of plastic, which wrapped a fairly small item for delivery to the visitor Centre, I was shocked and appalled. This bubble wrap was shortly headed for landfill and I knew immediately that instead I wanted to turn it into art and make a statement about our polluted environment. I also wanted to introduce Julian’s message of hope and remind people of the beauty of our natural environment and how much we are losing with climate change.
To get in touch with Debra or find out more about her projects, you can find her on Instagram, just search for @debra.artist.
