CRAFT:The recession has given sculptor Eoin Turner a chance to focus on what he really wants to do, writes KEVIN COURTNEY
STAND CLOSE TO one of Eoin Turner’s glass sculptures, and you might just hear the call of the sea somewhere in the swirls and eddys of blown glass. It’s hardly surprising: the Cork artist comes from a seafaring family, and spent his formative years fishing off Castletownbere with his brother. Their father had been a merchant seaman, and the young Turner grew up on romantic tales of distant shores. If his life had continued on its set course, Turner would probably now be captaining his own trawler – or maybe even a luxury motor yacht on the Mediterranean.
But, somewhere along the way, Turner’s life changed tack, and he swapped the allure of the ocean for the fine art of working with glass. But the sea never left him – it flows through the architectural works that have formed the foundations of his business during the boom, and it’s only too apparent in the range of cast glass bowls which went on display recently at Brown Thomas in Cork as part of Cork Design Week.
Imagine scooping up some ocean in mid-splash and crystallising it – when you look at these vibrant vessels, you can almost feel the tingle of sea-spray on your face.
The Vortex range of bowls, in various shapes and sizes, goes on sale in BT in Cork from Monday, along with a range of candle holders and nightlight holders. It’s all part of a grand plan to take his work to a new level, and join the pantheon of Irish designers whose names have become synonymous with internationally recognised quality. After years of creating large-scale pieces for places such as the Ferrycarrig Hotel in Wexford and the g hotel in Galway, Turner is going back to what he loves – creating functional sculptures that can stand up among the best of art work.
Some might think he’s crazy to try to market high-end sculptural pieces during a recession, but the former skipper understands only too well that tides – both maritime and economic – are subject to ebb and flow, and he’s determined to keep an even keel and ride out the current storm.
“When people spend money now, they’re looking for something of lasting value. Quality doesn’t go out of fashion. And I think this is a good time for retailers to start looking beyond the big names and take a chance on lesser-known designers.”
Turner lives in Cork city with his partner, painter Lorraine Mullins, and their three small children; his workplace just off Cork’s north link, where he creates his uniquely fluid pieces, boasts the largest glass casting kiln in Ireland. The couple opened a small glass gallery in the English Market a couple of years ago, but shortly after Lorraine gave birth to their third child earlier this year, they decided to close up the shop and try and find a berth in some of the bigger retail chains.
For Turner, the recession has given him a chance to reassess his business and focus on what he really wants to do with his art.
“We were driven by the property boom for a long time, and we did well out of it,” he says. When the crash came, and the orders from developers and architects dried up, “we were lucky, we were small enough to be able to turn on a sixpence. What we’re doing now is closest to my heart – I’m more passionate about it.”
One work that definitively connects Turner with the sea is a solid glass and silver sculpture of a luxury yacht which he was commissioned to create by a wealthy client in the south of France. (During his seafaring days, Turner worked as a skipper on a luxury motor yacht, regularly cruising the Cote D’Azur.) This solid cast glass yacht shimmers with a deep, oceanic blue. It took three months to make, but the resulting piece is stunning – if you’ve been thinking of getting a perfectly scaled solid glass replica of your luxury motor yacht to display in the boardroom, Turner is clearly the one to call.
Is he ever tempted to go back to sea? “I’ve got it out of my system, but I’ll always have a deep connection with the sea. Whenever I go back to Castletownbere and meet up with my dad and my brother, I can time how long they can sustain a conversation without talking about sailing or the sea. Usually, they last about a minute and a half.”
Eoin Turner’s Vortex range is available exclusively from Brown Thomas in Cork from Monday August 17th, priced from €70 to €580