30/08/24 - 21/09/24
To the Mountain is Maguire's first solo show, exploring the mapping of Mountains. The mapping of Ireland was developed to facilitate taxation and know the 'Underground Potential' of geological and material value. The mapping was done by triangulation by creating a series of primary triangles. Sightings were taken between stations using theodolites. This, and the artist's question, 'Do Mountains commune with us?' has inspired the fabrication of the works on show.
Cast pigmented jesmonite with gold, shungite and iron oxide on wooden plinths.The Mountains are inspired by geodata form of Iron Mountain, with additional minerals and imbued with healing pure pigments. Photo by John O'Hagan
3D printed Mountains, surveyor tripods, and geological specimens. The Mountains; Benbo, Slieve League and Iron Mountain were printed by Stuart Lawn at Manorhamilton’s Maker Lab. Iron nodule from Iron Mountain, Slieve League’s Quartzite and Benbo’s Paragneiss with pyrites and garnets. Photo by John O'Hagan
Limestone from Trotter’s Quarry, Leitrim carved by Seamus Dunbar. The symbol is of a trig point found on mountains and sites of elevation on a map. Photo by Sean Borodale.
Jesmonite sculptures with copper, coal and lead elements. l52cm x w40cm x h36cm housed in a free-standing brass and copper rod metal plinth. 54cm x 42cmInspired by research into the colonial history of mining in Ireland and travelling to many disused mines. Green stains on cliff rocks signified the ‘Underground Potential’ of a future copper mine to British prospectors in the early 1800’s in Ireland.
Jesmonite & pigments
The pyramids are 26 selected Mountains in Leitrim, the colours representing the geology ofthe Mountain sites. Photo by Sean O Reilly
Gunters Chains on Fired Clay wall.
The draped chain, measuring 66 feet with 100 links, has been used in land surveying. These chains were used to measure large areas of land and Mountains for the baseline reading. Photo Sean Borodale.
Large steel circle 190cm diameter, with a fabricated TriangulationPoint (to scale) 54cm base x 25cm top, and a fabricated pyramid made in clear resin, 25cm square. 2022 The circle encompassed a map of my body. The trig point or triangulation point represented potential to think about landscapes differently. The structure is a beacon or homage to the top of Mountains. Photo by Sean O Reilly
Iron cast Greek shoes, magnet. 2024.
Inspired by the fable of Magnes the shepherd; reputedly the first to notice magnetism, when the iron nails in his shoes and staff tip stuck to the Iron Mountain of Magnesia. The iron shoes act as a memory towards this fable and the embodied inner compass.
Photo by Sean Borodale
3D printed Benbo on plinth
Photo by John O'Hagan
Kathryn Maguire
Kathryn Maguire works in Sligo and London. She holds a Masters in Sculpture from Royal College of Art, London, a BA in Fine Art Sculpture from CCAD, Cork and an MA in Art in the Contemporary World from NCAD, Dublin. Her practice engages text, sculpture, video, and installation. Her primary medium is sculpture. Over the last seven years she has researched the impact of mining locations of minerals and metals and their histories. Exploring geology, the history of materials, building materials, and the circular economy, her practice concentrates on lithics, minerals, mining and knowing place from the mantle up. Her work asks questions of the experience and complexities of deep time visible in landscape and matter through scientific analysis.
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