LM:   Lots of things. Flowers. Wildness. Paying my respects. This series of works began when I was invited to make an artwork for a basketball court in Arkansas. I’d recently watched this viral video of Senator Flowers of Arkansas raging against stand-your-ground laws and was really inspired to make something that would honour her, but also speak about rising up. So, it was beautiful timing. Then when this opportunity at 1-54 came up, it felt like a good fit for that. I was thinking about the significance of Somerset House as a historical site, and I was playing with this idea of the courtyard being a garden, where games might be played and where wildflowers might grow, in contrast to having a very manicured lawn with signs up saying ‘no ball games’. That’s where basketball and flowers come in. Probably an unusual mix, but it all makes sense to me. I like how universal basketball is – that it is accessible. Also, that it’s a game dominated by African-diaspora men. It is a beautiful expression of black male joy.

LM:   Something I think about quite often, and I’m still working through, is the human instinct to decorate, in both senses of the word. The more obvious sense is making spaces look nice, which is really important, but the second meaning is equally if not more significant. The activity of rewarding and holding up a person/idea and saying that this is good, worthy and valuable. I think the role of public art is to do both of these things. And I think that in our cities, so often the vast majority of public space is used for commercial purposes rather than art. My hope for future public art commissions is that that balance will change.