Trinity College Botany Dept now has one of my works!

I’m thrilled that a piece of my Sculpture in Context installation “The Green Apocalypse: A Race Against Time – Rough Poppy” will from now on reside in Trinity College’s Botany Building . It’s a huge honour for me and my work especially as I am an alumni of Trinity College from the 1990s, I never imagined that a piece of my work would ever be in such a historically significant place.

Thanks to Professor Trevor Hodkinson and Professor Jennifer McElwain for being so welcoming and allowing me observe some special pieces in their Herbarium including specimens by Charles Darwin himself! “Rough Poppy” Papaver hybridum ( Critically Endangered) 30cm, black porcelain wall based sculpture with gold lustre glaze 2023. “The Doomsday Clock was created by Scientists in 1947 to warn the public about how close we are to destroying our planet, at that time it was about getting atomic weapons under control but now it also considers climate change in its deliberations. This year it was set at 85 seconds to Midnight, the closest it’s ever been since its creation.

For Sculpture in Context at The Botanic Gardens I was drawn to considering the decline in Ireland’s wild floral species, I wanted to use the visual of The Doomsday Clock to show this decline in wildflower species from most prolific to most endangered. I spoke to Professor Trevor Hodkinson, Trinity College Botany Dept and we discussed The Red Data list of Irish plants, its categories range from protected, vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered to extinct in the wild. I chose a plant from these categories from 6 (protected) to 12 (Extinct in the wild) with more common plants from 1-5. I made all the clock pieces by hand in black porcelain clay with gold lustre glaze. The pieces were hand sculpted and fired three times in The invaluable resource that is Fire Station Artists studios, Dublin. I hope the work highlights the plight of our natural indigenous plants and hopefully make people aware and consider making changes”.