Dionysus

Angus Taylor
2017
Belfast granite, steel & concrete
410 cm (h) x 620 cm (w) x 300 cm (d)
Edition of 3

In essence, the large seated figure is a “stone stacking”, one of the oldest methods humankind employed to indicate boundaries, acting as markers of important spaces and places (for example, an Inuksuk by the Inuit).

In ancient Greece, Dionysus was the god who manned (or rather ‘godded’) the mountain of Parnassus, standing in for the Oracle of Delphi in winter. His messages were danced by the young women and interpreted by the male priests. I have always found the Greek mythology far more inspiring than the contemporary monotheistic patriarchal religions. I imagine a society somewhat healthier with gods that are both good and bad, creators and destroyers (such as Dionysus), or male and female, as they have more depth and dimensionality. It was far more difficult to create one dimensional dogma from their belief system.

Dionysus is known as the Greek god of disorder, destruction and creativity – descriptions often associated with the creative process and art.

I therefore, quite aptly, decided to name my Sculpture Studio after Dionysus 21 years ago. The sculpture has a humble presence and a calm demeanour, reminding one of the mountain Parnassus. His calm presence stands in stark contrast to the proverbial chaos – the hundreds of individual pieces of Belfast granite that were sought, dispersed on the ground, and then reordered, hand-carved and brought together – to finally bring this docile giant into existence.

The pose of the figure was chosen to create a longer horizontal composition than what it achieves in vertical height, creating a sense of scale that does not impose on, nor intimidate, the viewer, but rather invites the viewer closer (the figure would have been 8.2m if he were standing).

Dionysus weighs between 25 and 30 tons and, like Mount Parnassus, is immovable. Through his pose, the portrait is close enough that one can simply be with the gentle giant, and enjoy his contemplative and engaging presence. As a mountain of stone, the human scale is minimised to one fifth of his size. The stone figure becomes the embodiment of the mountain that one climbs in order to seek knowledge.

 

 

Finished Artwork

Finished Artwork

Work In Progress

Work In Progress

Maquette Modelling