Contemporary Sculpture Glass ‘Fionraí’ by Barbara Kenneally

This contemporary sculpture glass is named ”Fionraí’ which means ‘suspended’ in the Irish language. The main body of this contemporary sculpture glass is clear but some blue glass is almost completely encapsulated within the sculpture.

This contemporary sculpture glass artwork also evokes the idea of suspended animation, where things become encased in something bigger than themselves. Akin to those insects that became trapped in amber many millions of years ago. Whatever one sees, it is certainly a thought-provoking piece.

Contemporary Sculpture Glass Artist

Barbara Kenneally is a visual artist living in Cork, Ireland. Her practice involves photography and kiln-formed glass sculptures.  Early retirement from her job as a senior medical scientist led to a creative career. Barbara graduated with a BA (Hons) in Contemporary Applied Arts, Ceramics, Textiles and Glass from Crawford College of Art and Design in Cork in 2016. She received awards for both her photography and her glass. A residency at the glass studio in Crawford College followed for the academic year 2016/17. This enabled her to extend her knowledge and deepen her love of glass as a material for creativity. 

Invitations to exhibit at galleries in Ireland and the UK swiftly followed. Her work is in the Irish State Collection and, she has been commissioned for both private and public pieces. Collections in Ireland, the UK, the US and Australia hold Barabara’s art glass.

Barbara uses rocks from disused copper mines to make moulds for her glass sculptures. Her palette is influenced by her photography.  Polishing one surface of the piece enables the viewer to look inside. This is a constant feature of her work.  

Often her sculptures have a void, made from a smaller rock, drawing attention to the man-made efforts to extract the copper ore. Remembering the miners is important to Barabar. However, the viewer is free to explore their own interpretation.

Glass has a comprehensive visual language, thinks Barabara, with its ability to reflect and refract light. This can be a powerful tool for the communication of philosophical issues in an aesthetically beautiful way.

Artist’s Statement

“Coming from a background of medical science, the transparency of glass allows for exploration of the surface and the subsurface. This is a very significant aspect of my work. Looking at and beneath the surface translates into all aspects of life.”