Cold Unknown
“The surf was your refuge, your happy hiding place, but it was also a hostile wilderness – a dynamic, indifferent world” (William Finnegan, Barbarian Days).
I spent a full year working on this portrait of my face braced against cold ocean. It was originally intended to portray the dichotomy of joy and fear that comes with surfing. In winter, when I have to dive under a frigid black wall of water I screw my face shut against the unknown world under the surface. Over the year, however, I was gripped with particularly acute grief surrounding the erosion of our natural world and the damaged future I stand to inherit. As a result the sculpture has taken on a second meaning for me; it is now also a brace against what’s coming. Due to gross inaction from political leaders, I may, in my lifetime witness the complete collapse of the natural world. It feels like a dreadful wave that can’t be stopped. All I can do hold my breath, screw my eyes shut and hope that it won’t be as bad as it looks.
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Material - Spalted Beech
Inches - 16x10x5
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€3,200
Bloom's Ebbing
Bloom’s Ebbing depicts the peaceful fading away of a man, Mr Bloom, at the end of his life. The sections of scorching in this piece don’t necessarily represent death but rather the gradual and inevitable deterioration of body and mind.
Like other works in this series this sculpture explores our relationship with personal and societal fears, seeking to find the beauty where it may not be apparent. Though the elimination of certain areas of the face may at first be shocking or upsetting the gentle smile on Mr Bloom’s face, the reclined tilt of his head and the harmonious balance of negative space intend to communicate a benevolent acceptance of his own ebbing.
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Material - Spalted Beech
Inches - 6x10x18
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€3,300
Injury
Injury is intentionally uncomfortable form that encapsulates one of my favourite rants.
I have noticed the growth of an increasingly litigious and fearful culture in Ireland. This “careful now” attitude seems to serve little purpose other than to voice anxiety and undermine the individual’s ability to make appropriate, informed decisions. Perhaps if we could find peace in the inevitability of pain we could focus more on living in the moment and enjoying life. Though the subject matter in this piece is uncomfortable, there is beauty in it. Could we view pain in a similar fashion?
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Material - Spalted Beech
Inches - 28x8x8
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€2100
Fennel Bay
Fennell Bay (or Baile an Cuainin) is a rocky surf break on the south-west coast of Ireland where this representation of an interaction between body and landscape was conceived.
Every surfer and ocean swimmer knows the thrill of a foot brushing the reef or rocks thought to be far below. The dark and jagged reef (represented in scorched wood) contrasts the gentle contours of the human form, highlighting the fear and unfamiliarity that is growing between ourselves and the land we come from.
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Material - Spalted Beech
Inches - 6x6x13
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€1,800
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Kelp
A continuation of the study of how it feels to come in contact with the ocean floor. In this sculpture, the kelp that wraps around one's ankle is represented by a strong hand reaching up from below. Whether the interaction is malevolent or playful is for the viewer to decide.
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Material - Spalted Beech
Inches - 28x8x8
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€2,800
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Rufus
Rufus is the name I gave to an endearingly surly ram in the field beside my studio. A handsome and sturdy animal marred by a deformed left ear.
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The bust, like the ram is a dominating presence but his deformed left ear provides a perfect flaw that softens his gruff demeanor. In a world so heavily influenced by flawless computer aided manufacturing and airbrushed images we seem to have confused beautify with perfection. Rufus marks the value of imperfection.
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Materials - Ash
Inches- 16x16x11
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€2,200
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Smile
The first in a pair of sculptures studying the mouth and the innumerable moods it can express.
Materials - Spalted Beech
Inches - 9x7x17
€1,500
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Cry
The second piece in a pair of sculptures exploring the expressions of the mouth.
Materials - Spalted Beech
Inches- 9x7x17
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€,1,500
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