These are a selection of images from the installation process of the ‘Sentinel’ commission. The sculpture was installed in Westport, Co Mayo, Ireland. on the 20th December 2014.
The Sentinel was commissioned by Westport Town Council in 2013 following on from the town winning the award for the ‘Best place to live in Ireland’.
This award was as a result of the Irish Times nationwide competition to find the best place to live in Ireland.
The sculpture depicts a spirit horse and rider and together they stand at the crossroads and point the way to the holy mountain, Croagh Patrick and beyond. They point the way for pilgrims
who have journeyed to this special place for more than 500 years. They stand tall as they overlook and guard the town of Westport. The sentinel is a guardian and an angel.
It embodies a spirit of strength, fortitude and individuality. It is a figure both fierce and gentle and I believe, a suitable symbol for the enduring spirit of Westport and it’s community.
The sculpture is constructed in bronze and stainless steel and stands over six metres high. On it’s elevated stone plinth it overlooks the town of Westport much like a figurehead at the prow of a ship.
- January 11, 2015
He creates the arched back of a horse. The square rusted mouth of a horse. The neck of a horse with a frozen metal mane. The head of a horse in poured concrete. Bird shapes petrified in steel flocks. And again the eyes of a horse emerging from pieces of steel that seem to take on animal motion, steel that bends and moves and breathes and runs like horses. (Hugo Hamilton)
