Dawn’s Early Light is a site-specific installation conceived for Shoreham, Kent. The work commemorates the 306 British soldiers executed by firing squad during the First World War for desertion or cowardice, all of whom were posthumously pardoned in 2006. The location holds particular significance, as Thomas Highgate—the first British soldier to be executed—was from Shoreham.

At the centre of the installation stands a vertical wooden structure that formally echoes the posts used by wartime firing squads. Charred by fire, the timber bears the physical residue of destruction, evoking both the violence of execution and the broader devastation of the war. A length of rope recalls the binding of the condemned, suggesting restraint, waiting, and the suspension between life and death.

Surrounding the structure are 306 oranges, each representing an individual life lost. Their vivid colour and organic materiality introduce a corporeal presence that is both immediate and unstable. As the fruit gradually decays, it underscores the fragility of the body and the passage of time, transforming commemoration into a lived, phenomenological encounter. The soldiers are not represented directly; instead, their absence is made palpable through material traces that invite reflection, empathy, and unease.

Through this interplay of material, site, and historical reference, Dawn’s Early Light creates a liminal space in which memory, loss, and delayed justice are held in tension.