this was the source
2021
PE rigid foam, modelling plaster, Plastiform, wood, acrylic paint

“this was the source, you know (2021) is a realistic sculpted tree, painted with bright colours, which creates a tension that instantly reminds the viewer that they are not, in fact, experiencing the natural world, but rather standing before something sublimely man made. It reaches toward the feeling of the absurd; in which our desire to find universal harmony conflicts with the assertion of our own identity. This sculpture draws a line between absurdist theatre and Caspar David Friedrich’s painting “Two Men Contemplating The Moon” (1819-20). The tree depicted in two demotions in the painting is rendered by Walsh, and named after an apocryphal anecdote of Samuel Beckett, who fingers the painting as an inspiration for his play “Waiting for Godot” (1952).” – J.F.

This work was produced with financial support from Carlow County Council’s Individual Arts Act Grant.