Our featured Artist Member for October 2024 is sculptor Christy Keeney.
Christy studied ceramics at the Royal College of Art in London. His figurative ceramics are an investigation into the human condition, and his forms are stretched to the point where sculpture and drawing overlap.
After spending 17 years in London, Christy returned to his native Donegal where he now lives and works. His sculpted slab built heads and figures demonstrate a wonderful sense of draughtsmanship, as details are drawn into the wet clay surface.
I get inspired by events or moments in time where my mind is just in its happy place. Events like the birth of our daughter, or planting my first tree in the garden here when we moved back home to Ireland, or the layers seen underneath a torn poster on a bill board, or even the gap between my toes.
My studio is situated at the top of a steep hill two miles from the nearest town. It’s a large space at the back of the main house. I work mostly at the slab roller which doubles up as a work bench. Lots of discarded seconds take up space on various shelves and window ledges. I haven’t the heart to throw them out and sometimes give pieces away for free to curious visitors.
I don’t have a favourite piece. It’s the process of making that I find more enjoyable than the finished piece. When I’ve made the piece I move on to the next one. I like to look at other people’s work rather than my own; I know my own work too well and only see what I could have done better.
I visited a retrospective of Picasso at the Tate in the early 80’s, and many of my influences came from seeing that work. Especially a collection of small cardboard cut out and folded figurative sculptures. These simple two dimensional pieces opened a world of possibilities on how I would approach my own work.
A collection of Christy’s work is available to purchase in the gallery and via our online store.