Sculptor Elizabeth O'Kane wins Irish Sculpture Award 2013

Elizabeth's bronze pig, Porcellino, has won The Irish Sculpture Award 2013 at The Mill Cove Gallery, West Cork, awarded on 5 May.

"I am so flattered to win this prestigious award and to exhibit alongside such wonderful sculptors in this lovely exhibition." Liz O'Kane

The Mill Cove Gallery have made a compilation of Elizabeth's work, including Porcellino, on this YouTube video:

 

For more information on Elizabeth O'Kane and The Irish Sculpture Awards visit their websites:

www.elizabethokane.com

www.millcovegallery.com

"Keep Going Sure It's Grand"

Sculptor Elizabeth O'Kane is currently exhibiting in a small works exhibition called "Keep Going Sure It's Grand, (recession-friendly exhibition)" at The Solomon Gallery, Balfe Street, Dublin 2, (next door to The Westbury Hotel).

Exhibition continues until Friday 30 March.  Elizabeth's work on show includes a bronze Buddha Head, based on the Buddha sculpture she made for the Wunderkammer exhibition.

For more details on Elizabeth's work, visit her website.

Elizabeth O'Kane stone carvings

Sculptor Elizabeth O'Kane recently returned from four weeks carving marble at the Pietrasanta Marble School, Tuscany, Italy.

She made a pig from red Travertine, (a relatively soft stone from Iran) and started work on a portrait head, in an Egyptian yellow marble (softer than the local Carrara white marble). Both pieces were carved by hand using hand tools and air hammer, working solely by eye rather than using pointing techniques used for making more complicated sculptures.

Marc Michel - (seen below)

Egyptian Yellow marble

Work in progress. Life size.

PORCELLINO
Red Travertine, on a Belgian black marble base
25 x 43 x 20 cm
(Also available in bronze in a limited edition)

For more information visit Elizabeth's website.

Studio Visit - Róisín Gartland

The 'Studio Visits' are a monthly blog instalment. We're opening our doors to introduce you to the artists and designers in The Design Tower! Each interview will give you an insight into the individual designer or business.

This month we're chatting to Róisín Gartland.

Can you tell us about your creative path up as far as your latest field of study?

My design practice opened in 1987 and has been located in The Design Tower since 1988. I am a leather specialist and my business concentrated on developing a low volume high quality range of products.

I created bespoke pieces for private clients from the outset, (which I continue to do) and when demand for my work grew, I developed a commercial range of clothing that sold throughout Ireland, the UK and Europe. I am commissioned regularly to make pieces for film & TV and also for special events and concerts.

While being an independent woman operating a small business in the late eighties to early nineties was challenging in itself, it did not feed my soul. I needed to find a way to express myself creatively outside the commercial world. In 1991 I began to explore fine art as a means to fulfill that purpose and discovered a perfect visual language ideally suited to my needs. Over the next decade I balanced studies in fine art with my design business and was rewarded with a BA in fine art in 2000.

The most difficult time came in the years following the BA. Attempts to stitch my two practices together were surprisingly unsuccessful. My business had become a demanding master allowing little space to grow. So in 2004 I took a leap of faith and closed the commercial side of the business. In breaking up the old framework new possibilities emerged and as a result the last seven years have been some of the most creative and rewarding of my career to date. I returned to study 2 years ago to concentrate on an MFA in sculpture at NCAD.

What inspires your design - are there people or things that particularly inspire you?

 Unité d'Habitation by Corbusier

I am continually drawn to pattern formations, be they in nature or in geometry.  In this regard I am inspired in equal measure by nature, the human body and by architecture. Paris is one of my favourite cities for creative stimulus and Italy for its abundance of beautiful materials. I also have moments in sleep where inspiration is awakened.

Tell us about the range of materials that you like to work with

The range of leathers available is enormous but over the years I have whittled the list down to Spanish lambskins, Japanese hides, Ethiopian lamb suede, and a small selection of special finished leathers. On the other side of my practice I really like working with clay and paper, both separately and together.

It would be great to hear about your master’s course - what your goals and aspirations were and whether you feel they were met.

Pattern formation on vellum

For the last 2 years I have been immersed in a research based MFA at NCAD. This space allowed me the freedom to explore new avenues and engage with new audiences. My goal was to develop the building blocks for my reconfigured practice and out of that I developed a method that enabled my research to weave in and out between internal and external enquiries so while I spent much time pondering issues in the studio an equal amount of time was spent developing work that required an audience to activate it. It was a very challenging and rewarding time that was equally balanced by holding on and letting go. I’m happy to say was it was successfully completed.

In relation to your studio, if you had a crystal ball what vision of the future would you like to see?

I would like to see my studio continually evolve allowing the unexpected to happen. I would like to continue to share my expertise and experience with the generations to come and I would like to move outside the studio on occasion to research abroad. Having just completed my first ‘Tower Summer School’ workshop I would also like to see these develop as regular events in the ‘Tower’ calendar.

Can you tell us about the piece you created for The Design Tower Bender Exhibition?

The concept was to create an image of beauty in a modern style while making reference to Benders collections of Japanese Ukiyo-e prints and antiquarian books.

The image brings together all these elements: the outfit is made entirely from Japanese materials and the collar and cuff highlight the prominent fan motif in Japanese prints. Finally the location is the Long Room Library with centuries of knowledge as the backdrop.

Thanks for telling us more about your business Róisín! For more information, visit the Róisín Gartland website.

Check out the other designer interviews in the series too!

Ayelet Lalor feature

Great Irish Design to celebrate the Year of Craft

The Crafts Council of Ireland and Craft Northern Ireland have designated 2011 as Year of Craft. The year marks the 40th anniversary of the Crafts Council of Ireland and will be celebrated through a diverse range of dynamic events and programmes to showcase the very best of craft made on the island of Ireland.

The Interiors Directory is Ireland’s premier online destination for resourcing all aspects of interiors projects. They are proud to support Crafts Council of Ireland members and are excited to showcase selected designers who produce furniture, stained glass and sculpture. Their featured companies represent the brightest and most talented in the interiors industry. Ayelet Lalor is one of their featured ceramic sculptors.

Ayelet Lalor is an Irish ceramic artist and sculptor specialising in figurative work. Her contemporary ceramics range from wallpieces and figurines to life-size garden sculpture, including commissions, both private and corporate for awards, hotels, schools and specific locations. Humour, colour and movement are predominant in her ceramic work, while her figurative bronze sculptures resonate with a different quality, more quiet and serene than their colourful ceramic counterparts. As a figurative sculpture artist the exploration of the female figure has been at the core of Ayelet's work for many years. Working in clay, bronze and new media she consistently finds new ways to renew her interest in the human figure.

You can see more of Ayelet's work on her website or find out more about the Year of Craft 2011.

Clay And Light

Focusing on the qualities of translucency and illumination and with very different approaches to the medium, this exhibition explores the sculptural dimension created by the relationship between clay and light, featuring the work of artists Ayelet Lalor, Michele Hannon and Brigitta Seck.

WHEN:
6th November until 10th November

WHERE:
Studio 26, The Design Tower

MORE INFO:
Ayelet Lalor
+353 1 6729799
studio@ayeletlalor.com
www.ayeletlalor.com