A call has gone out for people in Forth Valley whose lives have been affected by organ donation or who have joined the organ donation register, to provide their signatures for a new memorial to be displayed at Forth Valley Royal Hospital.

The artwork, by sculptor Hans K Clausen, will feature a “cloud of names” sculpture formed from 366 brightly coloured acrylic signatures, one for each day of the year including Leap Year.

Anyone who would like to submit a signature or find out more about the organ memorial project should email organdonation@artlinkcentral.org.

You can read guidance on how to donate signatures here.

Through conversations, consultation and public engagement with local patients, relatives and staff, the artist has come up with the idea of a floating translucent artwork. It will publicly recognise the life changing contribution local organ donors have made and raise awareness of the value of organ donation to the people of Forth Valley.

The artwork, by sculptor Hans K Clausen, will feature a “cloud of names” sculpture formed from 366 brightly coloured acrylic signatures.

Hans Clausen explained: “We are particularly looking for contributors who have a personal or professional connection with organ donation, but this is not essential. The artwork aims to be a celebration of life and of the power of a connected community. It will most likely be your own signature (first name only) but it is also possible for you to donate, in your own handwriting, the name of someone with personal significance that you would like included. The signatures will be transferred into digital files, enlarged and laser cut in coloured acrylic.

“Signatures and hand-writing like fingerprints symbolise our individuality but signatures also represent the agreements, contracts, commitments and bonds we create with other people; this combination of individual uniqueness and collective connectivity reflects themes that emerged in the conversations I’ve had with patients, relatives and staff. I hope that those who contribute a signature or name can read the sculpture with a personal connection and association. For others I would like the sculpture to communicate the potential that each person and every day presents, the potential for a life changing and life-saving opportunity and the power of what is possible when people connect.”