Alan Dunn's work, Ascension, takes a component from a famous public artwork in Liverpool and repurposes it to talk about loneliness within society. It has been, says the artist, a project 30 years in the making. Glasgow-born Alan, who lives in Spital, has been based in the Liverpool City Region since 1995, the year he co-created the RAY + JULIE sculpture with Brigitte Jurack.

The sculpture, consisting of two chairs, was originally commissioned by the Furniture Resource Centre. The original RAY + JULIE artwork existed for 27 years. Nobody ever knew who RAY + JULIE were, but in this new work they are separated, RAY at the plinth and JULIE left behind on London Road.

It will be the first time in 27 years they will have been separated and will remind us of the solace and support that faith brings to the lonely and the forgotten. Ascension sees RAY installed at the Plinth on Liverpool Parish Church for a year. Alan said: "After we created RAY + JULIE, only intended to last for six months until the road was redeveloped, they were adopted by the people of Liverpool in such a beautiful manner.

"Over their 27 years, they became the subject of poems, short stories, photographs, a play at the Everyman Theatre, a spoken word installation in St Georges Hall and were once described by The Guardian as one of Britain's Top Ten Secret Sculptures. In creating this new work for Liverpool Parish Church, using RAY, we are also creating another work, JULIE (on her own) on London Road." Alan’s wo.