Eilís O'Connell

Description

Unfold has a shape that could be defined in different ways: a cone-like form that is opening, or a piece of matter captured at the moment of being unfolded: the choice is ours. The upright sculpture, narrower at its apex than it is at its base, is formed of a sheet of bronze, softly contoured and slightly overlapping at the top, open like a tent at the bottom. As this is a piece made on a large scale, it is possible for a person to shelter inside, to be protected. The sculpture, however, has a spine, a sharp division between one side and the other, which contrasts greatly with its otherwise soft characteristics, indicating that it was once folded as neatly as a piece of linen. The inner surface is dark and mysterious, patinated black, masking shape and contour. A few milky drips compromise its dark perfection. The outer surfaces are undulating, and are marked with chevrons indicating blanket-like patterns or the weave of Irish tweed.

This sculpture was made shortly after Unfurl, a commissioned piece now placed near the entrance to Kensington Gate in London. Both this and Unfold have detailed outer surfaces and black inner ones, but the contrast between the two is marked, not so much by their colour or form but by the motion they imply. Unfold is a more jerky, automatic movement, engineered by a person, whereas Unfurl is a movement in nature - a flower or leaf opening to the light.

The ability to make a sculpture from such simple constructs marks O'Connell as a thoughtful and perceptive artist. She often plays with paper shapes, rolling, folding, creasing and conjoining paper or card, cutting and reassembling forms that occur by chance. For her this is an act of discovery in revealing the form for a sculpture: simply unfurling or unfolding the concept through manipulating matter.