The home gallery is open every Friday unless stated otherwise in the news sectionThe home gallery is open every Friday
Deirdre McLoughlin is born in Dublin (IRL) in 1949. She graduated with a BA from Trinity College, Dublin in 1972, before travelling to Amsterdam where Rosemary Andrews’ sculptures inspired her to work with clay. Later Sonja Landweer was to become her mentor. In 1982 the work of the Sodeisha Group and a sculpture by Isamu Noguchi brought her to Kyoto, Japan, where she established a studio and took classes with the Kyoyaki master Tousai Sawamura. In 1985 and a journey through China she returned to Dublin, where she worked until moving back to Amsterdam in 1988. In 1992 she was commissioned to present her self-portrait to the National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland and in 2011 An Post celebrated her oeuvre with a stamp. Her awards include an Alexander Foundation Grant (Switzerland) in 2000 and she was twice winner of the Ceramics of Europe Westerwald Prize 2004 and 2014 in the category Vessel. She received a Certificate of Honor in the 4th World Biennale of Ceramics 2007 (Korea). In 2013 Maria Blaisse opened her solo show ‘sculpter le vide’ in Le Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris. In 2018 she was short listed for the International Loewe Craft prize with ‘Waterwork I’.
Visit the website of the artist: www.deirdremcloughlin.com
Pictures: Deidre McLoughlin, early portrait 1978; object ‘Resist Arrest IX, 1992; object ‘I am too’ 2004 (photo Rob Bohle Amsterdam): object ‘Sceitimini’ 2011 (photo Rob Bohle Amsterdam); object ‘Empty Form’ 2002 – 2012 (photo Rob Bohle Amsterdam); ‘Waterwork I 2017/2018; signature D M L by artist. All information and pictures courtesy Deirdre McLoughlin.
“Het woord ‘sense’ omschrijft voor mij nog het meest de essentie van haar werk. ‘Sense’ in de zin van zinnig en zinvol, ‘it does make sense’. Maar ook in de betekenis van ‘sensible’ beseffend, van belang, gevoelig, de zintuigen betreffend. En als ik alleen op de klank van het woord af ga, denk ik aan sensatie, gewaarwording, maar ook aan sensueel. En eigenlijk is haar werk dat allemaal, lijfelijke, ronde, plastische vormen die erom vragen aangeraakt te worden. Elk werk is een spannende reis en niet de uitvoering van een vooropgezet plan, dan zou je ook nooit deel kunnen worden van het werk (tekst Teja van Hoften).”
