Simon Kidd 2023 Sculpture 1. Glacial Erratics

Stoneware with Co Galway Granite inclusions , Porcelain slip and Co Down Glaze

The namesake of these works are glacial erratics, which are rocks that have been carried across the landscape by glaciers and then deposited someplace after the glacier has melted. Glacial erratics are found in various places across the world, Ireland being just one of them. They are scattered across our island, and often have a connection to Irish mythology and folklore – from being stones that were thrown by giants of the past, to Ail na Míreann in County Westmeath, where the veil is said to be thin – a meeting place with the other world.

These rocks are special – from the journeys they’ve been taken on by glaciers to the stories they’ve become part of over thousands of years. I wanted to instill some of these qualities into these pieces. They have subtle nods to geological characteristics – stratification, erosion, orogeny. They are made of the land: undulating surfaces embedded and coated with rocks from across our island – granites, limestones, basalts – brought together and melted to create something new, objects that are not quite from our world.

-Simon Kidd