Donal Molloy-Drum

The temporal nature of life is reiterated through the balancing act of one shape encountering another. Whether supported or supporting, these forms evolve as enduring structures, often defying gravity, showing both strength and vulnerability. While highly polished, subtle, often faint, markings on the surfaces reference the passing of time, scars, stories and events connecting nature with humanity. The making process for me is about turning hard materials into soft malleable and tactile abstract forms with an organic presence, inviting the viewer to contemplate the empty spaces highlighting the curves, shadows and precarious balance of forms.
Artist Statement - Dónal Molloy-Drum

'Each sculpture possesses a joyful quirk of individuality, appearing enlivened, discursive and in a state of activity. Full of generative visual possibilities, the individual units that the artist coaxes into existence appear to squirm, squeeze and tumble their way into their final collective configurations. Irregular spheres nestle within polished angular crevices. Unruly branches protrude from the tranquil arch of a protective hollow. The contrast between these forms, of textures and opacity, the enduring quality of steel beside the mutable nature of glass and wood, sets up scenarios full of poetic ebullience.'
Excerpt from catalogue essay by Phe Luxford 2022