Rory Breslin (b.1963) THE APRIL MARINE MASK [CLEW BAY MARINE SERIES]

Lot description

Rory Breslin (b.1963) THE APRIL MARINE MASK [CLEW BAY MARINE SERIES] porcelain; (no. 1 from an edition of 3) h:17 w:11.50 d:7 in. The Clew Bay Marine Series are a series of 'seascapes', chronicling by season the wealth and variety of sea life in the Bay. A microcosm of the abundance and richness of Irish marine life and of our human relationship with the sea, the works celebrate the beauty, diversity and also the tenacity of life on our coasts. The latent energy that permeates the sculpture underlines that dynamic tenacity, pushing the techniques of sculpture extensively to gain spatial and emotional tension. Breslin is usually associated with bronze sculpture but is constantly experimenting with various materials and techniques. With this wall sculpture, the translucency and beauty of porcelain is explored to great tonal effect. The April Marine Mask: A great spiralling shoal of Sea Bass, king of the mullets, envelops the mask redolent of a Bedouin's keffiyeh. Crowned by the Spider crab, Maja brachydactyla. the shoal encapsulates the sleeping tranquil face of the young woman, whose cheeks bear the prints of gulls. Driving through the shoal from the rear the tremulous sounding Northern Diver pushes through the Carragen Moss, Chondrus crispus, healer of colds, bronchitis and chronic coughs. An Escher-like arc of the longliving whelks at the base of the sculpture frames the lower section of the mask and is interspaced with the whelk's egg casings and Turban snail shells.