The Titan Arum - Ceramic Forms

The Titan Arum: Behind every great man… is an outdoor ceramic sculpture. Inspired by the largest flowering plant the Titan Arum. This sculpture was hand built and modelled in my Dublin studio and fired in an electric kiln to 1260°C (Cone 8).

It was originally exhibited at Sculpture in Context 2005 at The National Botanic Gardens, Dublin. It also featured at Airfield House in the Sculpture in Context 2005 exhibition. Exhibited at Outside: Insight – Sculpture in the Garden 2008 at Brigit’s Gardens, Co. Galway.

Dimensions: 80 cm diameter, 60cm H

Price: €2,500 (20 pieces) NFS

My inspiration

Imagine for a moment a flower that blooms for a few short days perhaps only two or three times in a forty year life span. A full grown leaf can stand as tall as twenty feet and forms a canopy up to fifteen feet across. Indeed it is difficult to find a clearer example of the multiplicity and splendour of the plant world than the Titan Arum (Amorphophallus Titanium). While it is known as the largest flower in the world, it is in fact an inflorescence or a cluster of flowers.

Observers of specimens in the wild have said that looking down into the plant it seemed like a light was shining from inside. This of course is an illusion created by the flowers to attract insects so that fertilisation can take place.

The inside of the Amorphophallus Titanum, image b y TGrayPhotography (Own work). Image cropped to focus on female part of flower (2017). Licenced under a Creative Commons licence [CC BY-SA 3.0] http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAmorphophallus_Titanum_Inside.jpg

Image by US Botanic Garden (2003). [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ATitan-arum1web.jpg

The entire structure of this flower is extraordinary, but what I am most fascinated by are the female flowers. Hidden at the base of the huge spadix they cling in their thousands to this fleshy column awaiting pollination.

They say that behind every great man (and woman) there has to be…well a great woman – it would seem that the plant world is no different from the human one.

About ‘Sculpture in Context’

The Titan Arum: Behind every great man...outdoor ceramic sculpture by Michelle Maher shown here on exhibition at Brigit's Gardens, Co. Galway, Outside: Insight Exhibition in 2008. Inspired by the largest flowering plant the Titan Arum. Hand built and modelled and fired in an electric kiln to 1260°C (Cone 8). 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.