CLAIRE CURNEEN

Claire Curneen’s iconic sculptures are poignant contemplations on the liminal and precarious nature of the human condition, exploring themes around death, rebirth and the sublime. Universal and profound states of fear, loss, suffering and sacrifice fuse with devotion, desire, wonder and mystery to underlie each intricate, porcelain figure. Their translucent and fragile qualities offer potent, metaphoric abstract narratives. Porcelain, terracotta and black stoneware creates a grounded vulnerability to these works, with dribbles of glaze and flashes of gold to embelish denoted sacred qualities.

Claire Curneen was born in Tralee, Co. Kerry, Ireland in 1968 and currently lives and works in Wales, UK. Works have been exhibited internationally and appear in many notable Public collections including the Crafts Council, London; Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead; National Museum & Gallery of Wales, Cardiff; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Manchester City Art Gallery, Manchester; National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh; Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth, Wales; Cleveland Craft Centre, Middlesbrough; Oldham Art Gallery and Museum, Manchester; York City Art Gallery, York; Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, Middlesbrough; Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, Eire; Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick, Eire; Ulster Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland; Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece; Clay Studio, Philadelphia, USA; Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Icheon World Ceramic Centre, Gyeonggi-do, Korea; Taipei Ceramics Museum, Taiwan.