Sorcha Dallas

It’s nice that a lot of good art these days seems to stand outside trends or movements. There isn’t a big thing going on, but there are plenty of fine things being individually pursued.

Michael Stumpf is busy creating his own sculptural language through particular materials and motifs. In the centre of the gallery is a sculpture made of a cast bronze triangle holding up a fabric-covered steel spiral, from which in turn hangs a triangle column of denim, hovering above a rock placed on the floor. Each element has a strong identity. It’s as if the artist has brought together unwanted parts from more unified objects to create his own hybrid form. The lower part of the wall behind this piece is painted purple and red like a volcanic sunset.

Stumpf’s muse is a poetic one – hefty bronze letters are welded into phrases: ‘When we slow down’ (pictured) and ‘The silence’. There are horn-like structures made from acrylic resin, bells strung with coloured woollen thread and a bird’s foot cast in silver. The work evokes more superstitious times. Objects are invested with ancient power lacking in today’s commodified world. ‘The woods are angry and deep,’ says one title, ‘is it light where you are yet?’ You wouldn’t want to spend a night alone with this show.