PATHWANIMAL CALL - THE WILD EYE

Animal Call – The Wild Eye

Sylvia Parkinson Browne

& Ani Mollereau 

From 12th of September to 12th of October,

Cahir Arts, 26 Castle street Cahir , Co. Tipperary, E21E004.

Both Artists have exhibited extensively with work in Public and Private collections. 

Artist Statement : Ani Mollereau – Animal Call

I am a storyteller and my medium is bronze, 

My focus are animals, working with clay allows me to convey their emotion, story and personality, interpreted in a way I think is best suited to bronze, line, light and flow.

My sculptures start as a single line, which I work on to find the perfect image in terms of proportion, balance and character so the viewer sees the true essence of the animal and its story.To draw on the power and beauty of animals and to portray it in sculpture is a great privilege.

Bronze sculptures on bog oak base

Artist Statement :  Sylvia Parkinson Brown B.A.,P.G.C.E.,M.A. - The Wild Eye

I can’t think of a time when I wasn’t interested in drawing. Even as a child I relished solitude, green spaces and safe contact with the animal kingdom. It is a topic I have always felt at home with, long before I realised it was proving to be a significant interface for everything we are learning about our environment. Originally from Northern Ireland, my formal training was in London and Lancashire, with the focus on a classical approach. Overall this has been somewhat a double edged sword. I do believe in the foundation of acquiring and honing solid skills, particularly drawing which is the armature for every painting. However in recent years I have found myself at odds with my training, almost needing to decommission some of the conditioning and structure of a classical background, to achieve something looser and fresher.

Nowadays, I work predominantly on wood panels, as I enjoy playing around with the surface and sometimes this is too aggressive for canvas. Blues and greys feature heavily as they usually give a good backdrop for the subject, then a little bit of gold was introduced for several reasons. I like the shot of colour, it represents something precious as well as being a nod to man and materialism. From the tiny essential bee, to the mighty polar bear, this exhibition invites you, to open your eyes to the changing wildlife population. Sometimes I like to use a playful combination of animals, but my favourite is probably still the hare. I’m not lucky enough to have them on my doorstep, but I can’t resist the large wide set eyes and alert look, scanning 360 degrees. They’re all legs, built for speed in the powerful hind limbs and with a whitish underbelly. Since pre-history, people have made aesthetic representations of animals, at a time when humans were not centre stage. We can only hypothesise on their purpose, but we can still appreciate how they create an environment of awareness. There has never been a more important time for us all to connect to wildlife in any way we can. Our wildlife is now a reflection of human impact on eco systems and the decline of biodiversity and biodiversity underpins the health of the planet.