28 March – 28 June 2026

Claire Curneen’s sculptures are poignant reflections on the nature of humanity and our precarious place within it. Universal themes of loss, suffering and sacrifice underlie her intricate, porcelain figures, their translucent and fragile qualities offering potent metaphors through which to consider the human condition. Her ceramic figures have an imposing presence which tap into our desires, fears and mysteries. They are highly visceral, referencing Catholic imagery from the early Italian Renaissance.

‘Between my finger and my thumb’: the first line of Seamus Heaney’s poem Digging perhaps evokes the sensuous squeezing of clay in the artist’s hands, but, as Claire points out, this is a nod to creative labour more broadly, the idea taking form through physical effort. Claire pinches clay as Heaney digs with his ‘squat pen’, poetic labour connecting hand and head.

Curated by Gregory Parsons

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28 Mawrth – 28 Mehefin 2026

Mae cerfluniau Claire Curneen yn fyfyrdodau dwys ar natur dynoliaeth a’n safle ansicr ynddi. Mae themâu byd-eang colled, dioddefaint ac aberth wrth wraidd ei ffigurau porslen cywrain ac mae eu nodweddion tryleu a bregus yn cynnig trosiadau grymus er mwyn ystyried y cyflwr dynol. Mae gan ei ffigurau cerameg bresenoldeb urddasol sy’n tynnu ar ein dyheadau, ein hofnau a’n dirgelion. Maen nhw’n dra angerddol ac o eigion y galon, ac yn cyfeirio at ddelweddaeth Gatholig o’r Dadeni Eidalaidd cynnar.

Mae ‘Between my finger and my thumb’; y llinell gyntaf yng ngherdd Seamus Heaney Digging yn dwyn i gof gwasgu synhwyraidd clai yn nwylo’r artist, ond, fel mae Claire yn nodi, mae hwn yn gydnabyddiaeth o lafur creadigol mwy eang, syniad yn ymffurfio drwy ymdrech corfforol. Mae Claire yn pinsio clai fel mae Heaney yn cloddio gyda’i ‘squat pen’, llafur barddonol yn cysylltu’r llaw a’r pen.

Curadwyd gan Gregory Parsons

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Associated Events

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Digwyddiadau Cysylltiedig

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