The Ferryman

Clodagh Redden

Clodagh Redden is a sculptor living and working in West Cork where she has established a studio near the coastal village of Durrus.

Her successful career began when she won the prestigious Victor Treacy Award in Kilkenny in 1993. She went on to graduate the next year with a Masters Degree from the University of Wales in Cardiff. Clodagh has since been displaying and selling her work in exclusive galleries throughout Ireland, and her pieces are frequently commissioned as gifts for high profile visitors to Ireland. The body of work for which she is most renowned are the ‘Soulboats’ which have been both commercially successful and critically acclaimed. They have garnered an enthusiastic and loyal following and have been presented to such dignitaries as Hillary Clinton and Hu Jintou as well as Irish heads of State and business. Clodagh won an Irish Ceramics Award in 2012.

The themes and motifs used in Clodagh’s work are symbolic of a spiritual journey between life and death. The Greek mythology of the ferryman Charon carrying the souls across the River Styx is the original concept of these transitional vessels but she also incorporates Celtic motifs, tonalities and mood within the pieces. Along with intricacy of the finer details she primarily prefers to let the natural texture of the manipulated clay inform the final piece.

She is currently in the process of expanding her sculptural skills by learning the art of bronze casting which she uses in combination with her ceramic work and as stand alone pieces for the garden and indoors.