Soldered brass, 12 x 12 x 3, 2016. Swedish Fantasy is built from two concentric images of one country. The rim is a ring of twelve compartments packed with relief: architecture, crowds, streets. That is the format of the commemorative plate, which reduces a place to a sequence of views. The well at the center … Continue reading Swedish Fantasy
Soldered brass, 15 x 9 x 3, 2016. Fig Leaf Figure puts the leaf where the body should be. The fig leaf is the part of a sculpture that gets added. Genesis gives it as the first garment, and later centuries applied it to antique and Renaissance nudes so they could stay on view. The … Continue reading Fig Leaf Figure
Painted welded steel, 16.5 x 21 x 12, 2015. Bala Ganesha holds Ganesha in a single instant of extreme physical extension: weight on one bent leg, the other kicked out fully horizontal, the whole mass held in a balance that reads as dance rather than pose. That silhouette is a direct citation of Nataraja, Shiva … Continue reading Bala Ganesha
Soldered brass, stone, 16 x 16 x 7, 2015. Chetak is a portrait of a disguise. At Haldighati in 1576, Maharana Pratap’s horse was dressed as a baby elephant so that he could ride unharmed through the Mughal war elephants. McCourt builds the animal in two layers held together by straps and buckles. The legs, … Continue reading Chetak
Soldered brass, 14 x 10 x 14, 2015. "Helm of The River Queen," a soldered brass sculpture by Ryan McCourt (2015), presents a powerful blend of regal authority and natural symbolism. The helmet-like form, with its smooth, impassive face, evokes an archetypal figure tied to rivers, hinting at both a mythological and historical interpretation. The … Continue reading Helm of The River Queen
