Irish sculptor Eilis O’Connell’s new exhibition at VISUAL - Kilkenny Live

The desperation of people fleeing their homes to board coffin-like rafts before crossing the Libyan Sea haunts Irish sculptor Eilis O’Connell.

From a distance, you could mistake her latest sculpture, which takes centre stage in the Main Gallery at VISUAL in Carlow, for a missile or warhead. The piece forces people to stop and think about the need for physical refuge in today’s chaotic political climate.

It’s a new departure for the artist who rarely makes sculptures about real life. Entitled Capsule for Destinies Unknown – series two (2024), the work has its origin in a piece of the similar title made for an outdoor show in 2017. It is part of In the Roundness of Being, an exhibition which runs at VISUAL until May 2024. 

“Being safe today is almost a question of geography, politics, and the randomness of where you happened to be born, or where you happened to be at a certain time of day,” explains O’Connell. 

Born in Derry but now working from her studio in Cork, Eilis O’Connell says the seeds for her latest work were sown by a previous sculpture made for ARK, an outdoor sculpture show, in the grounds of Chester Cathedral in Britain. That was before Brexit, “when it was easy to get things to the UK”.

“I saw an RTÉ documentary about the Irish navy patrolling the Mediterranean/ Libyan sea. They rescued refugees from a raft and it was incredibly powerful. I noticed how the raft was made, almost like a coffin ship, doubling the capacity with shelves so that people could lie under the deck,” said O’Connell.

“The refugees paid thousand of dollars to make the crossing and could only take one bottle of water with them. The raft is then abandoned by the traffickers and left to float aimlessly in rough seas, many people were rescued but some did not make it. The Irish Navy were brilliant. I was appalled by the lack of humanity of the traffickers, how ruthless people exploit those in the most desperate circumstances.”

While she mostly deals in the abstract, in recent years her work as an artist has been deeply impacted by world events. Brexit had “such a dreadful effect” on Eilis O’Connell and many other artists. It is almost impossible to ship work to the UK now and that’s a very real problem for British artists too. She describes how the system has “gone back to the dreaded ‘Carnet’ – it’s like going backwards to the 1970s.”

Post-Brexit challenges she experienced included getting a huge customs bill after one show in London and getting art works lost in transit with customs unable to categorise them. “I spent days looking for my maquettes (small models for a commission). Six weeks later, they arrived dumped outside my gate in a box. We have always relied on the free flow of goods to and from the UK. We have to rethink this and pursue opportunities elsewhere in Europe.”

VISUAL presents In the Roundness of Being until 12 May 2024. Opening times 11am – 5.30pm Tuesday to Saturday, 2pm – 5pm on Sundays.