Ann Christopher’s totemic works of sculpture are striking, whether confined indoors, where every surface detail can be inspected beneath gallery lights, or standing outside, in sun or cloud, their bronze patination complementing trees, buildings and sky. They present a paradox, being delicate of line and yet confrontational in their stance. This is particularly true of the larger pieces, such as Line from Within (4.6m. ht.) for the Royal West of England Academy or Beyond Silence (2.3m. ht.), sited in Washington, D.C. There are smaller pieces, too, and it was these that gave rise to the thought that Ann Christopher might contemplate a medal for BAMS. Ann Christopher studied at Harrow School of Art in the 1960s, and then at West of England College of Art, where she took a B.A. in sculpture in 1969. She was elected a Royal West of England Academician in 1983 (having been an Associate from 1972), a Royal Academician in 1989 (Associate from 1980), and a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors (RBS) in 1992. In 1994 she received the RBS silver medal for sculpture of outstanding merit. Recent exhibitions include Still Lines, a solo exhibition of six monumental sculptures made between 1985 and 2002, held in the new Jubilee Park in London’s Canary Wharf in the spring of 2004. Ann Christopher lives and works near Bath. The attention to detail and eye for measure and balance visible in the artist’s larger works have also been brought to bear upon her BAMS medal. Cast in bronze, the form in space is small but the pleasure of such a beautiful piece of work is enormous. A very pale patina contributes to a sense of weightlessness. While, on the one hand, the line that wraps around the medal binds it together, it is also endless, an incantation around the medal. Smooth to the touch, an amulet of sorts, the medal also has an edge to stand on, inviting a different perspective. The artist writes about her medal: ‘Making a “medal”, which in my eyes had also to be a sculpture, was a challenge I accepted readily. I decided that the restrictions of size and weight meant that the piece was really a “hand sculpture” and so that was my aim. The wedge-shaped result sits comfortably in your hand; it can lay on either face, or it can stand. The title, In the Sky there is no East or West, came at the end of the process, as always. It refers to the many ways of physically and mentally approaching the medal, to space, flight and time – the memory of Concorde and the utopian dream of world peace – a medal for the future.’