Trusting in memory

THRILLED Cavan Sculptor shortlisted for Zurich Portrait Prize

Marie Smith has followed up last year’s success in being shortlisted for the Zurich Portrait Award by repeating the feat.

Last year was the first time the Cavan artist had ever entered the Zurich Portrait Prize. Used to creating pieces representing entire figures this notable success persuaded her to focus on doing more work in portrait.

“It’s a completely different piece from what I entered last year,” she says. “I was very pleasantly surprised when it was short-listed.

“It was so different, it is quite classical, and I thought it might be a bit too classical for the competition.”

The classical vibe of the piece - titled Armand - comes from how it was created.

Earlier this year she ventured to the birthplace of the renaissance, Florence to hone her craft with a classical training.

“I went to the Florence Academy of Art where they use the ‘drawing in space’ method which is all about working from life and observation.

“You get to spend a long time with the model, so I really wanted to give that a go, and that’s where I made this piece.”

It was an intense period of study and work. Whereas in life drawing classes there could be a dozen or more artists attending, Marie had the luxury of sharing her professional model Armand, with just one other sculptor.

“I got to spend about 24 hours working with the model - that’s a long time.”

Working in 25 minute blocks with five minute breaks each morning she was free to work with other models in the afternoon.

Marie would be perched so close to the model, with the sculpture between them, that when sitting she couldn’t even see Armand. While it sounds counter-intuitive, it is a key aspect of the technique.

“I would move backwards and stand and look at the sculpture and the model on equal terms and I could measure it from there.

“Taking minimal measurements from the head - really learning to trust your eye. You move backwards and forwards through the studio, spending nearly more time looking than sculpting, and then you work from what you remember.

“It was mentioned in Florence as an exercise to draw the model’s profile at home in the evenings from memory. And initially you think - Oh God, I wouldn’t be able to do that, but actually when you are doing so much looking, it was possible to do that from memory and as they days went on, it worked!”

She half jokes Armand’s image is still emblazoned in her mind to this day.

Demanding absolute precision, the ‘drawing in space’ process was slow but rewarding.

“I was building up the head very slowly - you spend days just concentrating on the profile and this model had a particularly striking profile so that was very interesting for me a as a sculptor.”

The Celt mistakenly thinks she has applied paint to the eyes, but it is actually just the level of detail which Marie has included.

“He had quite deep set eyes, so there was a lot of shadow there. There’s different ways to sculpt the eyes. I scooped out the pupil and then put back in the dot to capture the light.”

A modelling tool helped to create movement in the lifelike hair.

The clay she used too was a joy for Marie.

“It’s sourced from the Arno River in Florence, so it was very very local and was absolutely beautiful to work with, very smooth. It was grey when you are modelling it wet, and then it became a kind of terracotta when it was fired, very kind of Mediterranean.

“It was a different way of doing things definitely and I’m so happy with the results,” she cheerfully reports.

The results is quite a moody, sombre piece that almost demands the viewer to wonder what Armand is thinking of.

“Whereas people did say that about Stephanie - I’d love that in my house. This is different.

“I think it definitely evokes things in people - you look at it and get something, you are compelled to think what is his story? I think people do really feel there is something moving in it.

“Because I made it and I know that there was a person there, it can be a bit different for me - that’s what makes it really interesting for me to hear what other people get from it.

She laughingly confesses he wasn’t as brooding in his every day life.

“He was actually very pleasant. He’s a professional model, he was born in Albania but grew up in Italy. He’s really into Italian cooking and during our breaks he would explain how to make pistachio pestos and things like that - so we had very light conversations in between what were quite intense sessions.

“He was very serious about it - there was no chit chat when he was working and I think that comes across.”

She is thrilled to once again be shortlisted for the prestigious Zurich Prize, but she has no time to rest on her artistic laurels.

“I’m starting a three month residency in Townhall and that starts next week, where I will be focussing a lot on making portraits.

“I want to use the time to experiment a little bit, look at different ways to make contemporary sculpture portraits - life sized heads but maybe bust pieces or wall pieces viewed from different angles things like that.”

Ultimately Marie aspires to having a solo exhibition in Cavan. And anyone interested in her fabulous sculptures can get an up close view of her technique during an open studio event in the Townhall Cavan on Culture Night (Friday, September 22).

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