"Paternity Suite" 2003 . . .
"Paternity Suite" 2003
By furthering the PATERNITY SUITE body of work post-birth, I am examining my own responses to this new (alien?) experience of fatherhood and all the natural (universal?) paternal instincts that follow with it. The PATERNITY SUITE works created pre-birth showed the abstract concepts and emotions I was wrestling with at the time, and were presented as pristine, iconic images. By contrast my most recent works created for PATERNITY SUITE post-birth reflect the reality of nurturing my growing daughter.
These new works grow out of my own experimental approaches to working with ceramics and bronze, developed over the past 6 years involvement with the Umha Aois projects (see CV). These new sculptures present paternity in its purest, ancient forms, in images that speak to us from the very beginnings of humanity. Each ceramic figure is created specifically to be used as a crucible to melt and pour the bronze for the accompanying child figure, thus expanding on the idea and deepening the connection between the figures. The glazes on the ceramic figures are a result of the experimental firing process and are completely unique from what is possible in a standard ceramic kiln fired process.
Lorraine's interest has dwelled on the development of both traditional symbols that represent fecundity (such as fruit) and modern/personal symbols and images which provide a new view on this theme (for instance, the abstract composition of stripes in a pregnancy test). Her work can be viewed HERE
This exhibition of our work includes paintings on canvas and handmade paper by Lorraine, and James' work includes original prints, wall-mounted metal sculptures, an insatllation of sculpture and video, and small-scale bronze and ceramic sculptures. Images of other work included in this exhibition can be viewed in the sections Paternity Suite, Paternity Suite 2002-2003, and Ball!
Image Details
- Naas Road leading in to Newbridge Town
- Water droplets on stainless steel
- Electro etched credits
- Artist with the sculpture