Today, we are in the spectacular Devil's Glen Wood, Ashford, Co Wicklow, for the first of a couple of visits. The Devil's Glen Wood, site of the Sculpture in Woodland project, is owned by Coillte, basically a government controlled company, whose core purpose, quoting from their website, "is to enrich lives locally, nationally and globally through the innovative and sustainable management of natural resources." They own 7% of the land cover of Ireland! Above is part of Canadian artist Kat O'Brien's Seven Shrines installation.
The site was once part of the Glanmore estate, former ancestral home of John Millington Synge. The Sculpture in Woodland project was formed in 1994 with the aim of creating a greater awareness of wood as an artistic and functional medium. Creative artists are facilitated in responding in new ways to the natural environment; in return the artists give the community a rich and diverse range of work, situated in an environment that is very different to a traditional gallery space. Artists are commissioned on an annual basis and to date seventeen sculptures, by both Irish and international artists, have been permanently sited in the Devil's Glen.
Left, and below Chago by French artist Jacques Bosser.
It's now 16 years since the project was started and all around the site is evidence of the effect of the passage of time where many of the sculptures have gradually deteriorated and will eventually give themselves back to their natural surroundings.
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