CAG.2349 Eilis O’Connell, Each Day, 2003, bronze, H 235 cm. Purchased, 2007. © the artist.

We’re taking WORK OF THE WEEK outside with this beautiful contemporary sculpture in our garden!

The mysterious form of Each Day (2003) by Eilis O’Connell is an indelible presence beneath the gallery's formal façade. Standing 2.35 metres high, this bronze sculpture has a corrugated exterior surface and a smooth interior. On a formal level, the artist's work is about contained or penetrated space and is often in response to the scale of the human body. This sculpture’s form echoes that of a Gaelic great cloak and, indeed, O’Connell has described her work as ‘an extension of the body, an extra shell or layer to protect the human spirit.’

Visitors to our garden (which will soon host Crawford Gallery Café’s outdoor offering!) frequently have the impulse to stand within the gentle curves of this encompassing, yet reassuringly robust work.

Eilis O’Connell RHA is a contemporary artist who works in abstract sculpture. Born in Derry, she studied at the Crawford School of Art (now CIT Crawford College of Art & Design) from 1970 until 1974. This is when it was still based at our Emmet Place premises and at a time when sculptor John Burke (1946-2006) was an influential teacher there.

O’Connell was the youngest Irish artist to show at Rosc '84, having already represented Ireland at the Biennale de Paris in 1982. Founder director of the National Sculpture Factory and member of Aosdána, she is well known for her public commissions, including the 13.5-metre high steel and copper Reedpod (2006) outside in Cork city centre.