It is that time of year again! Dublin’s Botanic Gardens are hosting a giant sculpture exhibition both indoors and outdoors. This is the 37th year of this exhibition and it is well worth a visit. The gardens are magnificent at this time of year, and you will find all manners of sculptures nestled in among the plants and trees. This is a great way to get children interested in art as it allows a natural interaction with the gardens while looking out for sculptures. It is a fabulous day out when the weather is nice.

Link to sculpture in Context website:

Exhibitions

This year even more feltmakers are exhibiting so congrats to all and make sure to go visit!

As there are quite a number of feltmakers included there will be two blog posts covering the exhibiting artists. Artists will be listed in the order we have managed to contact them and get their information. If you have not been asked for details but are exhiting in Sculpture in Context, please contact us as there are so many artists involved that we may have missed someone. You will be included in the second part of this blog. This first blog covers the work of Fiona Leech, Tamzen Lundy, Annika Berglund, Ramona Farrelly and element15.

Toxic Tears by Fiona Leech

Bright red spots immediately conjure up recognition of poison and green, in contrast, is synonymous with nature. That is why I chose these colours for my felt hanging sculpture. The concept of this piece is to raise awareness that every rainfall is toxic. It’s called acid rain due to high levels of pollutants in the atmosphere. These toxins are invisible, so I made the piece very visible and tactile for maximum impact.

I am a Dublin based felt and textile artist. I work mainly with wool fibre which is sustainable, bio degradable, renewable and recyclable.

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We are all connected by Tamzen Lundy

We are all connected is a response to the global refugee crisis, it is symbolic of our Irish diaspora and our tradition of immigration and emigration.
The movement of people because of war, economics, and hardship. The red thread that binds and connects these journeys. I have collected beach material from the wild Atlantic way, places of great natural beauty, which are also landing and exit points for long and dangerous journeys.
Choosing small glass bottles as if they encase a fragile message to loved ones.
One bottle remains empty, to be filled with future hopes.

“No one puts their children in a boat, unless the water is safer than the land” (by Warsan Shire, poet “Home.”) A poem that inspired this work.

The materials used in my piece are fully sustainable. I have used repurposed glass bottles to contain sand ( from Irish beaches… also the component for making glass). The felt tops are 100% wool, from sheep, a fully sustainable, and biodegradable material and the fibre attaching each bottle is linen, plant based, water consumption friendly material.

In my  arts practice I endeavour to use materials that are as sustainable as possible. I collect and reuse packaging and I choose wool as my primary medium.

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Everyday Moments by Annika Berglund

Covid changed the world. The everyday had to shrink to fit inside square walls. It consisted of the circles we walked inside these walls and the bubbles we embraced.

My work became focused on the immediate and the simple; the confining but protecting square, the circle of the nurturing bubble, the threatening image of the virus.

Felting became both practical during lockdown and symbolic;

wool fibres, through soap, water, rubbing and being knocked around, create connections that hold together to create a very strong fabric of interlocked fibres that cannot be pulled apart again. Cohesion through adversity if you will…”

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Ariadne’s Gift by Ramona Farrelly

At present I am creating work that tries to incorporate the healing process of art.

The idea for this piece comes from a premise that the metaphysical wounds we suffer throughout life provide us with learning that helps us navigate and grow during our time on earth and allows life to become ever more meaningful.

The red vessels represent these wounds and they, put together, form the Chrysalis through which we intrinsically metamorphosise.  In Greek mythology, Ariadne’s golden thread which, represents the soul’s knowledge, helped Theseus navigate through the labyrinth and so it is represented here as such.

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Kinship by element15

element15 is a collective; individual artists cultivating their practice in tandem with each other, distinct but connected.  The sustaining nature of our creative bond is a mirror of a tree’s root system, providing anchorage and sustenance to flourish in a world beset with profound challenges.  In many cultures, a red string or thread represents the labyrinth of connections tying together those whose lives intertwine.  By working collaboratively on Kinship we use the symbol of the red thread as a visual connection from us to the natural world, from our sculpture into the earth.                                                  www.element15.ie

The following are the names of the artists who collaborated on the piece:

Colleen Prendiville

Kathrina Hughes

Elaine Pedan

Marie Dunne

Fidelma Barton

Pauline Kiernan

Helen McLoughlin

Caroline Fitzgerald

Trish Duffy

Dee Kelly

Catherine Dowling

Barbara Seery