Sound in stone: the conversation between artist and material
An afternoon with Bray based sculptor Helen O'Connell
Pebbles underfoot, I walked from the beach through the town of Bray in search of an artist.
There is a fragility to this area; wealth and flowers rustle, the roar of the sea is a constant memento mori. Sitting on Helen O’Connell’s front steps, liquorice tea and the sound of children playing are welcome reminders of life.
Helen is a gifted sculptor and artist, who has found refuge in this seaside town, this place of artists. Here, in the afternoon garden, her sculptures flicker and pulsate in the shining winter sun. ‘Tis a curious thing to see art so tangible, exposed to the wind and rain.
After almost 20 years of working with stone, Helen has seen her work weather and slowly return to its original finish; what we make smooth, nature makes rough and what nature makes smooth, we make rough. Even so, she prefers her work to stand outside, where people may encounter it.
Children clamber over clams, people stop to touch …
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