Sheena Devitt and Mark McGuinness
I am currently collaborating with stone sculptor and letter carver Sheena Devitt on concrete poetry projects — combining words and stone to create poems that are as visual and tactile as they are verbal.
Our first piece, ‘Elegy for Moss’, was exhibited in 2021 in On a Knife Edge, an exhibition at the Lettering Arts Trust.
The theme of the exhibition is ‘Nature in Peril UK’, focusing on endangered species in the British Isles. From the exhibition catalogue:
The presence of moss is easily overlooked; its absence even more so. So when moss starts to go missing, it takes a trained eye to notice.
Mosses play a vital role in the development of new ecosystems. They are among the first colonisers of disturbed sites, stabilising the soil surface, retaining water and helping new plants to grow.
More and more species of moss are in decline, such as the delightfully-named fir tamarisk-moss, awl-leaved swan-neck moss, ribbed extinguisher-moss, elegant feather-moss, small mouse-tail moss, dwarf bladder-moss and hoary fringe-moss.
We like to think of this piece sitting outside, becoming covered and softened with moss over time, filling in the letters and creating a micro-habitat for new plant and animal life.
The sandstone for the piece was supplied by S McConnell & Sons.
We are open to commissions
As well as working on our own projects, Sheena and I are open to commissions for site-specific concrete poetry installations.
We are looking for the opportunity to enhance an important space — such as a room, a garden, a courtyard, an entrance or lobby — with words that evoke the spirit of the place, embodied in a unique stone sculpture.
The process of creating the piece will involve site visits, research and conversations with you and the other people who use the space.
The result will be an original work of art that adds to the space without dominating it, and provides a talking point and a focus for contemplation.
If you have a special space in mind and would like to explore what we could create for you, contact us here and we’ll arrange a time to talk.
