RACHEL JOYNT: FATHOM: outstretched arms

Solomon Fine Art is delighted to host a solo exhibition of new work by one of Ireland’s most celebrated sculptors, Rachel Joynt. Best known for her large scale public sculpture, this new body of work by Joynt is intimate both in scale and nature and includes bronze sculpture, print and moving image. 

The works in Fathom: outstretched arms are the result of Joynt’s exploration of and intervention with the marine reserve of Lough Hyne in West Cork. This mysterious, deep saltwater lake is habitat to many unique species due to its geology and unusual asymmetrical tidal cycle. On observing the lake’s activity and the stillness that occurs in the moments before the turning of the tide at the narrow passage where the lake opens to the sea, Joynt was reminded of a respiratory system, of human lungs, and so a connection was made. Reflecting on her own personal journey of change Joynt recognised our similarities, as humans, with this living, breathing entity in constant flux, and our need to pause, to take breath and to accept and trust in the inevitability of change. 

Following a period of on-site research with the Marine Biology Department of UCC, Joynt has developed a series of moving image and sculptural works featuring the unique marine forms and micro-organisms of Lough Hyne. Eye-like sea urchins, dancing starfish and a mollusc the size of a human lung have been cast in bronze, suspended by the artist in that moment of stillness before the tide turns. Together with these bronzes Joynt presents a series of unique prints using marbling ink to mirror water currents. Two moving image works incorporate footage of the lake taken from above and below the water at times of tidal change. The third of these films, Creation Loop, is a poem by Kerry Hardie presented in a looped cycle. 

Born in Caherciveen Co. Kerry, Joynt grew up in Dublin and graduated with a Degree in Sculpture from National College Of Art & Design in 1989. She was elected full member of the Royal Hibernian Academy in 2005 and elected as a member of Aosdána in 2021. Her many public artworks include Síol outside Glencar House in Ballsbridge, Dublin; Dearcán na nDaoine – The People’s Acorn, Áras an Uachtaráin, Dublin;  Mothership at Sandycove seafront; Starboard on the River Lagan, Belfast; Guiding Star at Port Oriel, Clougherhead, Co. Louth; Noah’s Egg, UCD; Wood Key Walk at Christchurch, Dublin and People’s Island at Dublin’s O’Connell Bridge. Her work is included in many private, corporate and public collections including the OPW, Bank of Ireland, AIB, the National Self Portrait Collection, The Gallery of Photography and Temple Bar Gallery & Studios.