Aoife Bambury is a Kildare based contemporary visual artist and sculptor, whose current practice is focused on modernist sculpture, using bronze as the core material. Through her process, and working of the bronze, her work can take on the appearance of different materials, and at first glance could be manufactured from vinyl or another plastic.
Utilising her interest in human-made, utilitarian objects and the climate action movements, Aoife’s work includes abstracted elements from the natural and animal world. She is concerned with documenting human interventions and interference in the natural world and in the contrast and chaos that results. The images taken during this process of documentation are incorporated by Aoife into her photographic prints. The stark contrast of nature with objects left behind through human interference also inform the shapes and undulations of her recent sculptures. Her work is intended to convey reactionary responses connected to our inability to co-exist peacefully with the planet that sustains us. Her work is an abstracted reflection of how she perceives and attempts to make personal sense of changing cultural habit
Wicklow artist Alan Clarke has become the only Irish person to be accepted as a member of the internationally acclaimed Society of Portrait Sculptors.
The Office of Public Works (OPW) is host to Sculpture in Context at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. Showcasing sculpture for over 35 years, this annual event is the longest-running, largest and most important sculpture exhibition in the country, attracting a large public and critical audience. This cultural highlight in the National Botanic Gardens’ calendar runs from 7 September until 13 October, is free of charge and open daily.
The artworks in this year’s exhibition receive a spectacular presentation throughout the 50 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds, allowing visitors to discover sculpture in the most unexpected and surprising places. Smaller sculptures will be exhibited throughout the glasshouses and in the Gallery upstairs in the Visitor Centre.
Bringing together the work of more than 140 artists – including Alan Clarke, Eileen MacDonagh, Róisín de Buitléar, Shane Holland and Sara Cunningham-Bell – using an incredible range of media, these works of art represent the richly diverse character of Irish and international contemporary sculpture.
Artists have been inspired by themes such as wildlife, ecology, climate change and homelessness. From the smallest, most intricate ceramic works to stone sculptures of a monumental scale, visitors to the exhibition will be enriched by the experience of viewing such inspiring works in one location. The artistic integrity and technical skill involved in creating the works is evident throughout and highlights the breadth and depth of artistic talent and skill in Ireland today.
This year’s programme will include a suite of lectures on Saturday, the 9th and Sunday, the 10th of September from 3-4:30pm, by artists Eileen MacDonagh and Conall O’Caoimh and renowned plantsman, Jimi Blake, as well as guided tours of the outdoor sculptures on Saturdays at 11am.