Martin Cooney Artist Statement

As a professionally trained and experienced stone sculptor I am proud to be able to carve any and everything whether it is in the form of a private commission or an idea conjured in my mind’s eye. However I find myself increasingly drawn to Reductionist sculpture, a relatively new development that is capturing increased interest from sculptors and collectors around the world.

I coined the term Curvilinear Reductionist in reference to my own particular brand of Reductionism as I feel it best describes the impulsive energy, sensual curvature, and graceful linear component that permeate and serve to define my marble carvings. In removing the bulk of material from a block of marble I am able to produce carvings that weigh a fraction of the mass while maintaining an exterior dimension matching that of traditional sculpture. And while this may appear at first glance to be a frivolous consideration this mobility of movement sets the sculpture free and serves to integrate it into the home environment. But not only is the relative lightness and ease of movement of my Curvilinear sculpture advantageous, often the marble is carved so thin the very nature of the sculpture is transformed as light is transmitted through the stone causing it to be illuminated from within and allowing the subtle hues within the marble to flair under both natural and man-made light (even candlelight), an aspect of marble that prior to Reductionism has never previously been revealed throughout its long and complex association with human civilization.

These are in fact very interesting and exhilarating times. In order to create my Curvilinear Reductionist sculpture I rely on recent advances in diamond blade and abrasive disc technology that present a whole raft of options quite unimaginable to previous generations of sculptors. Without getting too technical the latest developments in hand-held diamond blade and spinner pad technology now enable a sculptor such as myself to routinely remove 80 or 90 percent of the original material with a speed that would have made Rodin’s head spin!

My approach differs from many free-form sculptors in that I do not use maquettes (scale models); I do not set out to rigidly impose my will upon a block of marble but actually enter into a collaboration with the stone. The finished sculpture will hinge on a variety of factors such as the grain, the texture and the characteristics of the stone, as well as a splitting process that I often use in order to shape the rough block. Plus there is the inexplicable and ingenious entity that I can only explain as ‘Mabel, The Spirit of the Stone’ a force of nature deeply embedded in the marble that simply refuses to be ignored.

Finally, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that I create all my sculpture entirely with my own hands, and that each Curvilinear sculpture is engraved with its Serial Number, along with my ‘Mark’, on the underside of the base.

Thanks for reading this.

Martin