Echtrae

"The work of the Otherworld Cycle is an exploration of my interest in concepts of time and perception of time. These sculptures are frozen moments of simultaneous existence of two physical forms in one and the same physical space - just like the ancient literary echtrae, a protagonist's account of travelling the otherworld, which were set in the duality of the physical and metaphysical worlds."

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Exploring the Otherworld

The concept of the otherworld in Early Irish Literature is the contextual setting of a series of bronze sculptures (images to the right) and large-scale drawings (below). This body of work will form part of the up-coming Artistic Alliance group exhibition Ré Nua (download PDF catalogue, 2.9MB) at The Grainstore, Ballymaloe House, Shangarry, Co. Cork, which opens on the 3rd December 2011. Holger shows a series of large pencil and ink drawings (3ftx4ft), developed during his residency at the Cill Rialaig Project, Co. Kerry in November 2011.

The Otherworld Cycle is a poetic response to Europe's Atlantic seaboard: from the legendary protagonists of its early literature to its folklife traditions steeped in rich maritime culture and heritage. As with the ancient immrama, his voyages in self-made curachs to islands and remote coastal areas provide the raw material that informs his artistic work. These archetypal vessels transform through his work into poetic objects, revealing our human urge to explore and discover. They become metaphorical vessels for our ideas, beliefs and desires. Like other cultural objects in his repertoire, bells and horns, he combines them with natural form and human anatomy into a single object. The simultaneous presence of their interlocking and intersecting shapes resonate with the ancient concept of the otherworld.

About the Work | The Cill Rialaig Folio | Literary Context

About the Work

Literary Context

The duality of the otherworld and the physical world in ancient Irish literature is the basis of this cycle of sculpture and drawing. The supernatural otherworld has many references in Early Irish Literature, folklife andmany other European epics of the early Medival period. Homer's Odyssee and even the earliest written text - The Gilgamesh Epos - are based around this concept. According to folk belief in Ireland, the threshold to the otherworld is closest to the physical world around samhain (now Halloween)- the interchange between summer and winter and between death and rebirth.

 

The Cill Rialaig Folio

During the two-weeks residency at the Cill Rialaig Project (more info), Co. Kerry, Holger focussed on drawing waves and a gannet sceleton collected from a near-by beach. A chance find of a deceased magpie then led to a series of ten large-scale charcoal drawings, nispired by the Early Irish text Buile Shuibhne. Two wax patterns for bronze bells with sea motifs were another outcome of the residency.

Many thanks to the Cill Rialaig Project and staff for a very enjoyable stay and the productive time there.

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Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of Suibhne, 3ftx4ft, 2011
Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of Suibhne, 3ftx4ft, 2011 Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of Suibhne, 3ftx4ft, 2011 Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of Suibhne, 3ftx4ft, 2011 Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of Suibhne, 3ftx4ft, 2011 Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of Suibhne, 3ftx4ft, 2011
Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of Suibhne, 3ftx4ft, 2011 Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of Suibhne, 3ftx4ft, 2011 Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of Suibhne, 3ftx4ft, 2011 Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of Suibhne, 3ftx4ft, 2011 Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of Suibhne, 3ftx4ft, 2011
Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of Suibhne, 3ftx4ft, 2011 Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of waves, 2011 Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of waves, 2011 Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of waves, 2011 Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of waves, 2011
Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of waves, 2011  
   
Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of waves, 2011 Holger Lonze, charcoal drawing of waves, 2011      

Cill Rialaig Folio

A series of drawings and sketches from a two-week residency at Cill Rialaig,based onthe magnificent waves at Bolus Head and bones and birds found in the area. The work is inspired by the Early Irish text of Buile Shuibhne.

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Literary Context

Buile Suibhne

Although not strictly an otherworld text, Buile Shuibhne shows many references to this literary genre. Reconstructed from 17th century manuscripts by J.G. O'Keeffe in 1913, the text is set during the time of the Battle of Moira (637 AD) and tells the adventures of the bird-poet Suibhne. Cursed by St Ronan, Suibhne, king of Dál Araidhe, turns into a bird and travels the land and seas of Ireland and Scotland while reciting his travels in form of a long landscape poem. Basis for the research for these drawings was Seamus Heaney's Sweeney Astray and O'Keeffe's original text.

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