Wallace, Duncan in joint exhibition
ARTIST Mary Wallace and sculptor Ana Duncan are exhibiting together in Clayton Whites Hotel.
Duncan is a Dublin-based sculptor who has recently completed large public sculptures in China and the USA. Her sculptures are mainly bronze, and ceramic, and she occasionally works with stainless steel.
‘My main influence is the human figure, I explore form through the exaggeration and manipulation of the figure, reducing it to simple design elements. I attempt to deal with body language, communication, emotion, and gestures’, she said.
Wexford artist Wallace’s use of vibrant colour suspended in beeswax makes for an opulent visual experience when paired with pure gold.
She enjoys exploring ideas inspired by the Japanese perception of beauty in imperfection, complexity in simple things and the extraordinary in the everyday.
That interest is taking a new direction as she looks at native Irish trees, especially those that blossom or display catkins on bare branches like hazel, willow, hawthorn.
‘Trees are deeply imbued with symbolism and meaning, strength and fragility, resilience, beauty, the preciousness of life. At a time when awareness of the necessity to protect nature, our trees, wildflowers and diversity, I felt compelled to bring this new element into my kintsugi work - the repair of precious things using gold, with an
Irish twist’, she said.
The exhibition will run at Clayton Whites Hotel for the duration of the Opera Festival from Tuesday,
October 22 to Sunday, November 3.