The writing’s on the wall – behold the ‘floating’ sculptures of Zineb Sedira

Zineb Sedir, Dreams Are a Language Made of Images at Three Mills. Photograph: Angus Mill

Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini (1920 -1993) was keen to emphasise the role of imagination in his creations.

As he said in 1980: “It seems to me that I have invented almost everything: childhood, character, nostalgias, dreams, memories, for the pleasure of being able to recount them.”

He underscored the relationship between imagination, dreams and film with his observation: “Dreams are a language made of images. In cinema, every object and light means something, as in a dream”.

Now this quotation has been turned into sculpture by Zineb Sedira in the latest addition to the Line art trail that winds it way down the River Lea.

Zineb Sedira, pictured with ‘Dreams’. Photograph: Tom Wilmot, Courtesy of The Line

Her text-based installation of Fellini’s words hangs on the walls of 3 Mills Studio in Bow which has been a centre for film and television production for four decades.

Even if you know little of cinematic production techniques, the majestic lettering is bound to demand your attention.

The steel letters that make up the artwork appear to float from the wall and cast shadows onto the industrial brickwork.

Illuminated from below in the evening, the large cream-coloured letters call out to passers-by, reminding them of the rich history of the place they are passing.

Storytelling is at the heart of Sedira’s work, and for her, the building’s proximity to water is also filled with symbolism.

She says: “Rivers are forever changing and moving. Like dreams they are not fixed. Rivers are places of mobility, routes to other countries, other worlds, other dreams.”

Zineb Sedira: Dreams Are a Language Made of Images3 Mills Studios
Three Mill Lane
Bow
E3 3DU

Nearest station: Bromley-by-Bow