Seeing Red - Ceramic Forms

Seeing Red is an outdoor ceramic water sculpture. The piece was recently on exhibit at CONNECTED 2020 at Kilkenny Castle Gardens.

The piece was located in the beautiful rose garden and was part of a Sculpture Trail run by the National Design & Craft Gallery of over 30 pieces in the historic city of Kilkenny.

Artist Statement

“This sculpture arose during COVID-19 lockdown at a time when connection was never more important and yet in many ways it was easy to feel disconnected. As we emerge from lockdown this sculpture has been my way of reconnecting with my own creativity.

The idea of connection has always been important to my ceramic practice. Firstly, my connection to clay as a material is very strong and of course connecting ceramics and water has been a big part of my journey.

And so, Seeing Red was a powerful way to process what was happening around me. To see our fragility as a species and yet the strength that is there too.

Ceramics holds these two principals of vulnerability and resilience at its core. I am interested as a maker in exploring these fundamentals.”

Dimensions & Price

60 cm H x 38cm Diameter (large pieces €2,500 each)

47cm H x 28 cm Diameter (smaller pieces €1,500 each)

€8,000 (all four pieces)

Available for sale.

How was it made & installed?

Seeing Red is a hand-built and modelled ceramic sculpture. It is inspired both in form and construction by reoccuring patterns in nature that cluster together as they grow; the sculpture consists of indvidually sculpted brackets or petals.

It was constructed using a grogged crank clay body and was high fired in an electric kiln to 1280°C (Cone 9).

The dark red reactive gloss glaze is one I developed myself; it combines rutile, iron spangles and other earth materials – giving it an iridescent quality in certain light as well black speckles. Each piece is completely unique.

My inspiration

Clusters…Layers…Gatherings…Connections…Constellations…Synergy in nature.

As always my inspiration for this water sculpture is nature-inspired, pulling ideas from various sources in fauna and flora and the reoccurring patterns we see in the natural world.

About CONNECTED 2020

CONNECTED JULY – OCTOBER 2020

***Exhibition is now closed.***

CONNECTED was a unique outdoor exhibition experience and sculpture trail featuring 30 works by over 20 artists, designers and craftspeople. Beginning at the National Design & Craft Gallery, the trail lead you through the city’s key cultural and historic sites along Kilkenny’s Medieval mile.

CONNECTED built on Kilkenny’s existing cultural gravitas and provided a platform to highlight the craftmanship involved in developing large and small-scale works suited to the great outdoors.

CONNECTED reminded us of the importance of our human connections with family, friends and the wider global society. It reflected on our deep interconnection with the natural world which each generation holds in trust for the next. Designed as an external exhibition, CONNECTED allowed audiences to re-connect with culture and craft outside of a gallery setting. Recognised as the home of craft and design in Ireland, this new sculpture trail opened up heritage gardens at the heart of Kilkenny City, and encouraged us to rediscover the city through fresh eyes.

CONNECTED was an initiative by Design & Crafts Council Ireland, Kilkenny County Council Kilkenny, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Kilkenny Civic Trust and the OPW.