Paul McDonnell

My interests lie in capturing and crystallising a story, a transition from ethereal to an embodied object.

 

Throughout my career in film, my job has been to mimic life and essentially play with realism. This thread of investigation is part of the warp and weft of my practice. Through the use of various materials such as wax, silicones, resins and human hair, I create hyper-realistic sculptures that explore a universal memory.

 

A body carries a lifetime of stories and memories. My sculptures aim to capture these narratives in order to create empathy and a connection between the viewer and the work – through nostalgia, activating a connection through shared history or experiences.

 

Distorting boundaries between reality and the fantastical, and providing a platform by which the viewer can momentarily escape their own realities and explore someone else's, renewing an awareness or meaning of one’s own experience; these are inherent to my practice.