Sculpture In Context 2023

SAWFISH BY FRANK HALLINAN FLOOD

September 30, 2023 by infomatique

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Frank’s sculpture, DRAGONFLY won The Goodbody Award for a work of distinction in any medium at the Sculpture in Context exhibition 2021 in the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland.

Frank was born in Dublin. Leaving school at 14 he worked in a sheet metal factory for two years. Having been temporarily blinded while welding he became a clerical officer in the Civil Service.

Meanwhile Frank studied painting under John Skelton at the Peoples College, Dublin.

He was awarded a four year, full time scholarship to the National College of Art & Design. While there he was Awarded the DiMarco Touring Bursary and travelled in Europe.

CORROSION BY JEN DONNERY

September 30, 2023 by infomatique

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I decided to check the meaning of corrosion – “Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engineering is the field dedicated to controlling and preventing corrosion.”

Her 2020 solo show Mater Materia took place in the Dunamaise Arts Centre; she was shortlisted for the DCCI Future Makers Awards in the same year. Her drawings, paintings and ceramic sculptures engage with themes of maternity, femininity, and the capacity of a woman’s body to produce and nurture human life. Donnery’s work has been selected for the 2019 Ceramics Ireland Selected Members Exhibition at Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin, and Sculpture in Context, 2019, 2020 and 2021 in the National Botanic Gardens. In 2017, she was awarded a residency at the Laois Arthouse for her work in the Dunamaise Open Submission Exhibition.

MOTHER EARTH WITH SUN MOON AND STARS BY BETTY NEWMAN MAGUIRE

September 29, 2023 by infomatique

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I already photographed this early in September but no details were available at the time.

Betty Newman-Maguire was born in Kells, Co. Meath in 1952. She is a practising artist who graduated with a First Class Hons B.A. Degree in Sculpture from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin in 1988 and was awarded a Master of Fine Art from the University of Ulster, Belfast in 1998. She has exhibited widely and is the recipient of many awards, public commissions and residencies in Ireland, France, Germany and America. Newman-Maguire has mounted 16 solo exhibitions in Ireland, Germany and America. Her work is in numerous private and public collections worldwide.

https://bettybeth-newmanmaguire.squarespace.com/new-page

BIRD OF PARADISE BY BRIAN O’LOUGHLAIN

September 29, 2023 by infomatique

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Brian has been a full time sculptor for over 20 years. His work is characterised by a warmth and softness in a medium that is hard and dark, often embellished with paint or gold leaf. Each piece is individually, carefully and sympathetically handcrafted to accentuate the natural flow and form of the wood hidden from our eyes for thousands of years. Each piece of art is carved, pared and whittled to release its hidden beauty from below the dark, damp, husky exterior.

PUCK BY NIGEL CONNELL BASS

September 17, 2023 by infomatique

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An Poc or the Puck, a version of this, is available from Saatchi Art for Euro 16,200 but the one shown in my photographs is available at Euro 14,000. Nigel is a British artist living in West Cork, Ireland. Self taught in a multitude of disciplines, Nigel Connell Bass is well known for his sculpture work in new and recycled metals, predominantly life-size depictions of birds and animals. He worked for 10 years, as a scenic artist for a busy Theatre production company, before moving with a young family to Ireland in 1996.

Bringing up a young family after the move to Ireland, and completing a self-build house, meant that for a few years, art took a backseat role as he worked mainly painting, decorating and sign-writing to make a regular living wage. In 2015 Nigel returned to art full-time. He is enjoying success regularly exhibiting his sculpture work at prestigious venues throughout Ireland and continues to explore new concepts in sculpture and also painting in acrylics onto rusted metal sheets.

As one of the leading characters in William Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck boasts of his pranks of changing shapes, misleading travelers at night, spoiling milk, frightening young girls, and tripping venerable old dames. The Irish pooka, or púca, and the Welsh pwcca are similar household spirits.

Puck is a mischievous fairy character from Irish folklore who is often associated with goats. He is typically depicted as a young man with goat-like features, such as horns, hooves, and a tail. Puck is often seen as a trickster or prankster, and he is known for playing tricks on humans and fairies alike.

In one well-known story, Puck is said to have stolen a goat from a farmer. He then disguised himself as the goat and hid in the farmer’s herd. The farmer was unable to tell which one of his goats was Puck, and he ended up selling all of them.

In another story, Puck is said to have helped a young man named Cormac to win the hand of his beloved, Grainne. Cormac was too poor to afford to marry Grainne, but Puck gave him a magic cloak that made him invisible. Cormac was then able to kidnap Grainne and marry her without her father’s permission.

Puck is a complex and ambiguous character in Irish folklore. He can be seen as both a mischievous prankster and a benevolent helper. His association with goats is likely due to the fact that goats were seen as sacred animals in pre-Christian Ireland.