LIAM KELLY ACHILL BOGWOOD SCULPTURES THE WORKING ARTIST
Liam Kelly is a talented Sculptor from Achill island. His creations ignite the imagination. Liam mastered his craft by sculpting a resource that his family used for fuel – Bogwood His Sculptures have a nice fluidity and appear as though the wood has been caved with the natural flow of the grain transforming it into a sight to behold. The way in which he displays work in a space provides evidence of his awareness of depth precepition and of the fact that one object can transform the feel of a room. He clearly appreciates and celebrates natures gift of bogwood with his Sculptures. He is a “direct carver”being described as a less planned approach to carving. Each piece is unique,the beauty and shape has not been altered only enhanced by careful craftmanship. He works from memory while observing the subject. He is simply drawn to a piece of wood because of its shape,colour and texture. He slowly develops forms, allways keeping in mind the properties of the wood. When you observe the outcome, its as though he was merely a servant of the process. He succeeds in capturing a beauty that differs from popular notions of what such standards should be. Each piece has its own personality. The only real truth in a work of sculpture lies in its poetic imagination. The permanence and longevity of a sculpture lies in the strength of the idea not in the material. Sculpture is a three dimensional artwork created by combining or stripping hard materials typically wood, and is one of the earliest forms of art, dating back to earliest civilisations. Each piece of bogwood is dated between three and five thousand years old. His hands sculpt what his mind visualises. His bogwood sculptures are simple since they are openly carved by hand. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Image is everything and seeing is believing.