Pollen Hotspot - Ceramic Forms

Award winning ceramic outdoor water sculpture, Pollen Hotspot was hand-built and sculpted in a cranked paper clay body and high fired in an electric kiln. It is inspired by micoscopic pollen grains and has appeared at numerous of exhibitions throughout Ireland.

Vanishing Art 2013 at Carton House, Co. Kildare.
Outside: Insight, Sculpture in the Gardens 2012, at Brigit’s Garden, Roscahill, Co. Galway.
Art in Action 2012 at Farmleigh House, Dublin.
Design & Crafts Council of Ireland Show Garden at Bloom 2011, in the Phoenix Park, Dublin.
Nexus (2010) at The Bluewall Gallery, Cavan.
National Craft Gallery Garden at Bloom 2009 at the Phoenix Park, Dublin and Castle Yard, Kilkenny.
Ceramics 2009, Ardgillan Castle, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin.
Claremorris Open 2008, Pollen Hotspot, Claremorris, Co. Mayo.
Outside: Insight, Sculpture in the Gardens 2008, at Brigit’s Garden, Roscahill, Co. Galway (Public Award).
Sculpture in Context 2006 at The National Botanic Garden, Dublin.

Dimensions: original 17 piece sculpture 1.5m x 1.5m. Individual pollen spheres available in various diameters from 15-35cm.

Price: original 17 piece sculpture €4,500. Individual pollen spheres available – €150-€695 depending on size.

Limited number of pieces available for sale.

My inspiration

It is a secret world visible only under a microscope. To imagine their size or quantity is unfathomable. They range in size from 20 to 250 nanometers – and a nanometer is a millionth of a millimetre!

They are produced in such quantities that it defies imagination. A single birch tree might produce as much as 5 billion pollen grains in just one season. In addition, pollens are composed of such an incredibly resilient substance that they are resistant to rotting and can survive tens of thousands of years.

Scanning electron microscope image of pollen mix (Louisa Howard). This image is in the public domain. http://remf.dartmouth.edu/pollen2/pollen_images_1/

Scanning electron microscope image of pollen grains from Helianthus annuus (common sunflower). This image is in the public domain. http://remf.dartmouth.edu/images/botanicalPollenSEM/source/10.html

In appearance they might easily be mistaken for something from another planet. Indeed pollen grains, which are usually spherical in form, have surfaces that often consist of very elaborate, three-dimensional patterns.

It is hard to imagine that all around us these tiny little sculptures exist in vast numbers, simply waiting to be carried by the wind or an insect to their final destination. Of course the majority of pollen grains produced by a plant will never reach that destination. In this piece I hope to give the viewer a glimpse into an aspect of the natural world not normally seen by the naked eye.

How was it made?

Pollen Hotspot is a hand-built and modelled ceramic water sculpture. The individual spheres were hand built in my Dublin studio. For the spikey pollen each separate spike was sculpted and joined on to the body. Other pollen were carved using a sgraffito technique. It was constructed using a grogged crank clay body with paper additions and was high fired in an electric kiln to 1260°C (Cone 8).

Constructing one of the 'pollens' in my Dublin studio. Award winning ceramic outdoor water sculpture by Michelle Maher - Pollen Hotspot. The pollen were hand sculpted in my own grogged paper clay body and high fired in an electric kiln to 1260°C (Cone 8).The piece is inspired by microscopic pollen grains - measured in nanometers these tiny grains are perhaps natures greatest sculptures. www.ceramicforms.com

About ‘Sculpture in Context’

Award winning ceramic water sculpture by Michelle Maher - Pollen Hotspot. Shown here in the pond at The National Botanic Gardens in Dublin. The piece is inspired by microscopic pollen grains - measured in nanometers these tiny grains are perhaps natures greatest sculptures. www.ceramicforms.com

“As you weave your way through the garden, you will discover sculptures in the most unexpected and surprising places. Ranging in size and materials, these works of art represent the richly diverse character of Irish and International contemporary sculpture today.”

Sculpture in Context is the largest and most prestigious outdoor sculpture exhibition in Ireland. Established in 1985 by a group of sculptors, their aim was to work on behalf of fellow sculptors to provide space for exhibiting work of sculpture in venues outside of their normal gallery context.

Thirty years on and Sculpture in Context has gone from strength to strength. Since 2002, the show has made its home in the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin which is annually transformed into a living art gallery.

Artists’ ingenuity, contemporary art and Mother Nature are wonderfully combined here and as the seasons change from summer to autumn, visitors are given a reason to return again and again to see the sculptures and the garden in ever changing conditions.

Sculpture receives a spectacular presentation in the Garden, which is laid out in a variety of settings including glasshouses, ponds and foliage – winding through the 50 acres of landscaped grounds. With over 160 sculptures, this is the most exciting outdoor sculpture exhibition in Ireland.

The show runs from the first week in September to the third week in October every year.