A mammoth task

The legend that a woolly mammoth once roamed freely across west Cavan and beyond is being brought to life by a Monaghan-based artist whose incredible sculptures have already transformed local open spaces into realms of wonderment.

Emyvale’s Marc Kelly is currently putting the finishing touches to his as large-as-life interpretation of Mammuthus primigenius before it will be installed at its fresh stomping ground of the former Railway Station, Straheglin, Belturbet.

Commissioned by Project Belturbet, the mammoth sculpture will eventually stand 12 foot tall and 15 foot long, with bench seating situated nearby.

It was previously believed the first ever remnants in Europe of a prehistoric woolly mammoth were found on nearby Turbet Island. However, the discovery was made on lands through which the Bunnoe River runs, surrounded by the townlands of Magherintemple, Lattacapple, Corrinshingo and Coppanagh.

The Belturbet connection was established through prominent town resident, Francis Nevill, whose account was later transcribed by naturalist Thomas Molyneux in the Royal Society’s journal ‘Philosophical Translations’ in 1715.

Nevill first announced discovery of the mammoth remains ‘near Belturbet’ in 1714, during the excavation of a mill on the border between Cavan and Monaghan.

Regardless, Marc is confident his sculpture will generate interest.

“They wanted something as true to life as possible,” he says of the Project Belturbet brief, with the end result expected to be moved on site sometime in September. “It’s very much a community project, and one I’ve been very pleased to be part of. It’s nearly sculpted at this stage, so it’s moving along nicely. It’s been a really interesting [project] because in the last few years I’ve started using 3-D printing, so at the outset I printed a scale model of the finished design. It makes for a nice process to visualise it as it progresses.”

Marc’s work already adorns many unique locations, including Rossmore Park in Co Monaghan, where ‘Banba – Queen of all the Drumlin Giants’ lies, formed using over 4000 pieces of up-cycled timber, and hair made from storm damaged timber gathered in the park.

From an early age Marc displayed a “keen interest” in carving, moving from wood to stone.

“From there I just branched into all materials, and using what I could to create what is was people wanted.”

His love of texture, and playing with traditional lines and curved formats, draws from Marc’s influences, of late the likes of America pop artist Jeff Koons.

Interestingly, Marc was a Renaissance lover in the early part of his career.

“It developed as it does with a lot of artists into abstract and more contemporary pieces. But still it’s about considering how people will perceive something; and how they’ll interact with it is just as important.”

Marc works on his own out of his Emyvale studio, subcontracting whatever skills he feels are lacking from his own personal quiver of talents.

Such is the sheer scale of some of his pieces, often times he requires architectural expertise to meet everything from structural drawings to the engineering reports increasingly demanded of him prior to installation.

“It’s no longer as simple as saying ‘I’ll make you this’. Everything now has to be backed up. It is art, but it’s very much engineering behind it all. These days everything comes back to insurance and safety.”

Cutting through so much red-tape does impact the profit margin. On top of that, Marc, like others, has had to increasingly contend with the spiralling cost of materials and labour. The mammoth sculpture, being made from polystyrene with a hardened fibreglass finish, was commissioned pre-Covid, when inflation was low and costs more manageable.

“On the one hand it’s great having wonderful ideas, but the budgets have to be there as well. I know most people haven’t a clue just how much background work is done before a piece of material is purchased,” explains Marc, who continues to honour contracts signed, even though the return is now much lower than expected.

“Covid held up a lot of projects. If you’ve steel involved, especially yes, costs have shot up. Fibreglass as well. Everything has gone up, so the margin is now practically depleted.”

While Marc welcomed last April’s announcement that a basic income of €325 per week will be made available to 2,000 artists under a new government scheme, he still believes more can be done to support an embattled sector left reeling from the effects of the pandemic.

One suggestion Marc offers is that local authorities step-up to bridge the financial gap.

“I’ve gone back to some of the public bodies and discussed this, because at the end the client is receiving something that has a greater value than the materials alone. So I think there is a responsibility on them. We’re purchasing materials in the local area, giving work to local tradesmen. I’m going into stores here in Emyvale or Monaghan Town, buying polystyrene in Cavan. These guys are charging me, but unfortunately with some of the jobs I’ve no one to pass that onto.”

It’s an “old chestnut” of sorts - just how much value does Ireland place on its artists?

“You’ll always have people saying ‘they should’ve spent the money on the roads’, or ‘that’s a waste’.

“The standard income is there now but it’s limited to 2,000. There are far more than 2,000 artists in Ireland. It is a struggle. My [corporate] work is what pays the bills. If I was trying to make a living off abstract structures, selling to galleries or private clients, there wouldn’t be a living I don’t think.”