A community art installation by Wendy Williams celebrating the culmination of a 12 month process to discern a future facing vision for the Diocese of Chester.

Alongside the grassroots consultation process, Wirral artist Wendy Williams has been working with community groups in museums, galleries, churches and community galleries to make hundreds of hand-crafted three-dimensional fish from recycled materials which will be displayed in the Cathedral.

Wendy explains: ‘I pick things up all the time and see if they can be re-used in some way. I hate that things are thrown out and wasted and I really dislike the overuse of packaging. So, I use paper a lot. I like to prolong its life and give it an extra journey. That’s why I use means of travel a lot in my work – boats, planes, shoes, etc. all used to get from one place to another, mapping out the journey paper takes. I make them into colonies, grouping them together, getting them working and exhibiting together for many years until the opportunity to explore new ground, I set up a sister group SCI. This lead to exhibitions in Norway, Stockholm and New York with further solo and group exhibitions in the pipeline.’

Casting the Net Wide is based on the Bible story of the miraculous catch of fish in the Gospel of St Luke.

On Saturday 20 May at 11am, churches will gather to review the feedback from the Vision consultation process. There will be a presentation with worship in Chester Cathedral, linking live venues across the Diocese of Chester, led by Bishop Mark Tanner.