Douglas Burton, Wishful Thinking, 1999, Steel and Wood, Unique, gh320 cm (W) x 274 cm (D) x 202 cm (H)

This large-scale sculpture shows half of an ornate Brighton roof, reimagined and repositioned. Made from steel and wood, the structure lies on its side. It no longer functions as shelter. Instead, it becomes form—bold, strange, and architectural.

The work plays with scale and memory. Burton takes something familiar and flips it, literally and conceptually. The roof becomes a relic, a fragment of domestic life turned monument. Its ornate details clash with its fallen position. The result is both humorous and melancholic.

The materials speak of weight and time. Steel provides structure and sharpness. Wood softens the piece but shows age. Together, they ground the sculpture in the real world, while pushing it into abstraction.

Burton often works with found forms and architectural elements. Here, he blurs the line between object and idea. Wishful Thinking suggests a dream or a failure—something once planned or hoped for, now repurposed.

This is a unique piece. It stands alone in scale and concept. Both sculpture and fragment, it invites viewers to move around it, to imagine what it was, and what it could still become.