Claire Curneen’s sculptures are poignant reflections on the nature of humanity and our precarious place within it. Universal themes of loss, suffering and sacrifice underlie her intricate, porcelain figures, their translucent and fragile qualities offering potent metaphors through which to consider the human condition. Her ceramic figures have an imposing presence which tap into our desires, fears and mysteries. They are highly visceral, referencing Catholic imagery from the early Italian Renaissance.
Porcelain, terracotta and black stoneware create an exquisite textural finish to these works, with dribbles of glaze and flashes of gold to accentuate their rich qualities. These figures bear bold narratives of human experiences and explore themes around death, rebirth and the sublime.
‘Curneen’s work offers us a precious liminal space of contemplation, like an altar or an icon but crucially, if there is devotion here, it is to humanity and creativity’ Teleri Lloyd Jones for the exhibition catalogue ‘to this I put my name’
