Plaster maquettes at St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork.

A collection of plaster maquettes has survived since the time of the construction of the current cathedral. These objects had a crucial role in the creation of the famous stone-carvings which adorn the building. They are handmade models whose measurements were transferred to stone using a precise measuring tool called a pointing machine. Maquettes would usually have been destroyed once their purpose had been served. Thankfully, that didn’t happen in this case, and we have been left a rich yet fragile legacy.

 An important project is now underway. Archivists and conservation experts are working to reassemble and restore these delicate plaster models. By doing so, they are piecing together another layer of the history of St Fin Barre’s Cathedral.

 At the moment, the maquettes are damp and mostly fragmented. They have been placed on display in the cathedral while they dry out and become more stable.

Artist in Residence at St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral 2023/2024

As work began on this project an idea started to form: an artist in residence will follow these archival materials on their journey towards restoration.

 Responding to the Burges Archive through drawing, photography and installation, I will create a body of work through prolonged engagement with the collection. As the conservation project unfolds, the resulting artworks will aim to enhance our understanding and appreciation of these treasured objects and their history.

The work in progress (drawing in situ)

 I have begun by making drawings of the maquettes in situ. It is assumed that they have spent most of their existence in this room, and so beginning here makes sense. It’s somewhere to pick up the threads of their story. Everything is about to change for them: their incidental relationship to one another in this dark vault, their temperature, even their molecular make-up as they dry out in the cathedral. While drawing, I feel an urgency which reminds me of life-drawing when the model is just about to move: my time to take stock is running out.

 First encountering the maquettes by torchlight in this dark place, it was not possible to look at them all at once. Instead, I saw a collection of fragments, slowly revealed. These first drawings reflect that earliest glimpse.

 The drawings are made in charcoal and chalk. Working with this dusty, fragile material is not unlike modelling in clay and plaster, which is a way of working out ideas, pushing material around before committing to the permanence of stone.