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Last Chance to see Kinship

Hi everyone,

‘In the Botanic Gardens came the season of fruit and plenty, wildflower ceramics appeared in the moonshine.

The stumps of trees sprouted wool in many colours …

In the gardens red thread roots growing from a tree into the ground put my feet solidly on the grass…’

Esther Raquel Minsky, 29.08.22

 

This is the last week to see Sculpture in Context exhibition in the Botanic Gardens, Dublin.  There are so many wonderful pieces of sculpture situated throughout the gardens that you could easily spend the day there.  The gallery over the restaurant is a beautiful space and houses a large number of smaller pieces in ceramics, glass, fibre, bronze and teabags!

We are really pleased that our piece, Kinship, is slowly being colonized by nature as the grass, and the odd mushroom, grow tall around sections of spreading ‘roots’.   The felted pieces, which nestle in the crevices of the fallen tree, bear the signs of insect activity, snail trails and fallen leaves.  Just perfect!    Here are a few images of it now….

 

 

Thank you to everyone who visited and gave us such great feedback.  It was an interesting adventure for us to work collaboratively on one piece.  Our thanks to the committee of Sculpture in Context for giving us this wonderful opportunity.  

 

Kinship in Nature

We are over the moon to have been accepted to show our work at Sculpture in Context, the longest running and most prestigious sculpture exhibition in Ireland. The exhibition is currently running in the National Botanic Gardens until 7th October. There are 169 pieces spread throughout the gardens, the indoor gallery and the greenhouses.

Our piece is called ‘Kinship’. The idea for the work came from our belief that the sustaining nature of our creative bond as a group of artists is a mirror of a tree’s root system. It provides 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. We worked collaboratively on ‘Kinship’, using the symbol of the red thread as a visual connection from us to the natural world, from our sculpture to the earth.

We carefully chose the location for ‘Kinship’, at the fallen Morus Nigra, as we think it reflects the resilience of nature and of humankind. The fallen tree remains firmly rooted. It survives and flourishes and shows beauty in adversity. There is another connection to this location. The Morus Nigra and the Morus Australis growing beside it, are mulberry trees, the leaves of which are food for silkworms. As textile artists, I could say we knew this in advance and that it contributed to our choice of location, but we didn’t until we arrived to install the work last week and ended up covered in fallen mulberries!

The gardens are open Monday – Friday, 9 am to 5 pm. Saturday and Sunday, 10 am – 6 pm, admission free. Our sincere thanks to the committee of Sculpture in Context for their commitment to this exhibition which is held each year since 1985.

https://sculptureincontext.ie/