In pictures: Stunning stone creations featured in one-day exhibit at The Glen

The Glen Resource Centre recently hosted a one-day public exhibition by a group of people who have built confidence and learned creative and practical skills through stone carving.

Members of the Cork Simon Community Stone Carving Group have struggled with homelessness and other issues, but their work with the group has given them a supportive space in which to explore their creativity.

The artists’ collective has been in existence since 2021, under the tutelage of stone carver Tommy Lysaght.

Its work can already be seen across the city, with its members helping to create in 2023 a pair of matching stone and marble chess tables, which are situated on Pope’s Quay, and in 2024 a trio of standing stones, which are in the Peace Park at the corner of the Grand Parade and the South Mall.

The exhibition, entitled ‘Vessels’, explores the theme of containment, and offered a showcase of the development of the individual participants’ skills, and their interest and passion for stone.

The individual artists were invited to interpret their own understanding of vessels, thinking about the concepts of home, place, and movement.

One of the artists, Kevin Clarke, said he had started out carving Celtic knots.

“Once I learned how to mark the design on a stone, then I learned how to scribe it out with a steel needle, and I could work away on new tools and accessories,” 

he said.

“My own background is in geology. I did a science degree a long time ago, so there is a connection there. But now I can look right into the heart of the stone and see what’s going on in there.” 

Mr Lysaght said that rather than work to rigid plans, the group’s work involved organically.

“We mark out our own destinations intuitively. We don’t know what our next project will be. When we started out we were just creating small pieces, and we went on to chess tables outside Myo Café and standing stones on the Grand Parade at the Peace Park,” he said.

“When the group became homeless, the Glen Resource Centre welcomed us with open arms, and the level of creativity on the part of the learners just improved exponentially.” The exhibition was opened with a performance by the Dillons Cross Choir.

‘Vessels’ was supported by Cork Simon Education and Training, the Cork Education and Training Board, and The Glen Resource Centre.

At the exhibition opening were: