Affectionately 'nick-named' by the artist, Polar Bear, like its 'sister' piece Square Ball, demonstrates O'Connell's tendency to morph a 'point' from a rounded form, as if hinting towards the potential for growth.

The piece is the product of O'Connell's interest in the forms of geological concretions; bizarrely shaped rounded masses of mineral matter found within sedimentary rock. (The word 'concretion' is derived from the Latin con - meaning 'together' - and cresco - meaning 'to grow.') Concretions form through the segregation and subsequent precipitation of minerals within the 'host' rock's cracks and cavities, or form around an impurity - like a terrestrial pearl.

Like the concretions from which it was inspired, Polar Bear has been a long time in the making. A combination of various sculptural experiments, this hybrid form took over ten years to come to fruition.