CORMAC BOYDELL
CERAMIST
Cormac Boydell worked as a geologist in Australia and Libya before moving into ceramics in 1978, in which he is self taught. In most of his work he uses an Irish terracotta clay from Enniscorthy in Co. Wexford, chosen because it comes from a part of Ireland where there is a long tradition of ceramics. This clay is beautiful to work with and it fires to an orangey-terracotta that is the perfect background for the colours he works with. In making his work
Boydell does not use wheels, knives, or other tools, relishing instead the direct contact between hands and the clay. Boydell is keen to emphasise the importance of the process of making and that the nature of the clay is apparent in the form and the texture of the resultant work. His alchemical understanding of glazes results in bright, brilliant colours that have become a signature of his work. Through these metal oxides a colour palette has developed that he has truly made his own; chrome oranges and yellows, softer yellow of vanadium, hard white of zirconium, soft white of tin, clean sky-like blue of copper in an alkaline base, dense night-like blue of cobalt and verdant greens of copper in an acid base. To complete his richly decorated pieces he employs the use of gold enamel and metallic lustres, often edging each piece with shimmering, reflective colour which serves to highlight the palette used and allows the colours to sing together. Boydell has exhibited in Ireland and abroad. Recent exhibitions include Collect 2009 and the Irish Pavilion, World Expo, Shanghai, China, 2010. Boydell has exhibited extensively in Ireland and abroad. Recent exhibitions include Collect 2009 and the Irish Pavilion, World Expo, Shanghai, China, 2010. He is currently working for two solo exhibitions in France in 2011, at Galerie du Don in Aveyron and Le Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris, France. His work is represented in public collections, including the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin; the Ulster Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland; the National Self Portrait Collection, Limerick, Ireland; the Department of Foreign Affairs Collection, Dublin, Ireland and the Consul General of Ireland, Shanghai, China.
Coomeen
Allihies
Beara
West Cork
+353 (0) 27 73085
crmc@cormacboydell.com
www.cormacboydell.com
Galway, Ireland.
Work available through exhibitions
nationally and internationally.
Visitors welcome to the studio but
please make an appointment first.
Image 2: Greens and Yellows on Black.Irish terracotta with glazes. 40cm x 40cm x 6cm (H x W x D).