Eileen MacDonagh

Eileen MacDonagh was born in Geevagh, County Sligo in 1956 and has worked as a sculptor since the 1980s. For her contribution to sculpture and the Arts in Ireland, MacDonagh was elected in 2004 to Aosdána, the Irish organisation that recognises artists that have contributed a unique body of work.

Background "Eileen MacDonagh's sculptures are candid, direct and ultimately rational. They spring from a harmonious and human-centred vision which seeks to charge natural materials with an aesthetic significance governed always by principles of clarity and formal coherence. Their major analogues derive from architecture and from craft... though never minimalist, the sculptures can sometimes be minimal, working to achieve a sort of meditative stillness where every details counts." —Medh Ruane.

MacDonagh is deeply influenced by books such as Robert Lawlor's Sacred Geometry and Fritjof Kapra's The Tao of Physics in which formal patterns are linked to ideas, religions and to the physical makeup of the universe. She has investigated the colour, texture and density of granite and limestone, as well as the challenge of working on a large scale. In recent years she has undertaken large-scale public works in stainless steel – The Medusa Tree (2009) for VISUAL, The Contemporary Art Centre, Carlow and – The Tallaght Cross (2008).

Many of MacDonagh's sculptures examine a fascination with geometry. She has long been inspired by the purity and ubiquity of geometric principles and the way in which geometric rules govern the universe. Her 2008 Fire from Stone show at the Centre Culturel Irlandais featured four major installations, the largest of which was composed of fifteen pieces of differing sizes. The individual pieces were based on icosahedral forms, a complex geometric shape, and were carved from over ten different types of Indian granite. They ranged in size from 4 feet in diameter to just 4 inches, and were all created when MacDonagh was on a residency in India.

Career Snow on sculpture Boora Pyramid (2002) by Eileen MacDonagh at Sculpture in the Parklands in Ireland.

In February 2012 MacDonagh will be showcasing new original works alongside past works in a Retrospective Exhibition of her work at VISUAL, the Centre for Contemporary Art, Carlow, Ireland. The show is called Lithosphere, opening on 5 Feb 2012 at 3 pm. This exhibition will be open on public display for 3 months

Awards and public art commissions 2009 The Medusa Tree Commission VISUAL, the Centre for Contemporary Art, Carlow, Ireland 2008 Commission, Tallaght Cross , Dublin, Ireland 2006 Commission, Inst. Technology, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland 2006 Commission, Innis Oirr, The Aran Islands, County Galway, Ireland 2005 Comm. National Maritime College, Ringaskiddy, County Cork, Ireland 2004 Commission, Dromahair/Leitrim, Ireland 2004 Elected as a member of Aosdana 2001 Commission, , Lough Boora, County Offaly, Ireland 2001 Commission, Kildavin, County Carlow, Ireland 2000 Commission, John Roberts Square, St, Waterford, Ireland 2000 Commission, Millennium Fountain, Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland 1999 Commission, Market Square, Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland 1998 Commission, Famine Stone, Eigse, Carlow, Ireland 1997 Commission, Carrigtwohill, County Cork, Ireland 1997 Commission, Dunlaoighre, County Dublin, Ireland 1996 Commission, Kilkenny City, Ireland 1995 Commission, Portlaoise, County Laois, Ireland 1994 Commission, Mallow Road, Cork, Ireland 1992 Commission, Dublin Corporation, Clanbrassil St., Dublin, Ireland 1991 Commission, Regional Technical College, Athlone, Ireland 1990+95 First Prize Sculpture, Iontas Exhibition, Sligo, Ireland 1989 Commission, Dublin Castle, Ireland

Key solo exhibitions 2008 Fire from Stone, Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris 2005 From Another Constellation, Model and Niland Gallery, Sligo, Ireland 1992–1993 Truss Touring Exhibition Projects Arts Centre, Limerick City Art Gallery, Irelan

Collections The following organisations have collections of MacDonagh's Public Art Sculpture work

Ireland Waterford Co. Council Carlow Co. Council Dun Laoghaire / Rathdown Co. Council Kilkenny Co. Council Cork Co. Council Mountmellick Library, County Laois Museum Park, Kiltimagh, County Mayo Harbour Board, Aberdeen, Scotland VEC County Sligo Letterfrack Centre, County Galway Dublin City Corporation, County Dublin Limerick City Corporation, County Limerick St. Patrick's Training College, Dublin OPW Dublin Castle Marley Park, Dublin Cork County Council

International Sendai : Peoples Park, Japan Tawara : Newtown, Osaka, Japan Regional : Technical College, Athlone Merzig, : Stones on the Border, Germany Gulbarga : India.