Beltane

Claire Curneen (b. 1968)
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
create a grounded vulnerability to these
works, with dribbles of glaze and flashes of
gold to embellish 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
ArGallery, 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.
(Three Faced) Head of Gold
porcelain & gold lustre, 20 cm height
15