Thomas Pool: As a sculptor, what draws you to stone as a medium?
Sonia Caldwell: There’s something quite simple and straightforward about using stone for carving, compared to other sculptural techniques where you may need to learn mould-making, casting, or firing. For stone carving, you just need the stone, a hammer, and a small number of tools to make your piece from start to finish. This suited me, especially since I was largely self-taught in the beginning. So, with some basic direction and someone giving you the right tools, you can start – after that, it’s just a matter of getting the feel for it.
TP: How has your practice evolved over the years?
SC: Over the last ten years, due to demands of life and the need to focus on other work, I have only completed one or two medium-sized pieces of stone sculpture per year. But during that time, I’ve also been doing other work. I have been doing research in heritage crafts and working in schools in my area and am now working on sculptural pieces that incorporate weaving and plant materials. In a desire to create small figures, I have also been using clay a lot recently. As with stone, you can only work with a certain size and can’t work small when using heavy chisels.
TP: How and where do you source the raw materials for your pieces?
SC: Mainly I get my stone from McKeon Quarry in Stradbally, County Laois. I often get a mixture of their offcuts and pieces I order for specific jobs and commissions.
TP: Since antiquity, stone carving has been both practical and ornamental. Your work includes both sculptures and reliefs in stone, as well as functional items like vases and bowls. How do you view your work in dialogue with the history of stone carving?
SC: Since leaving college, I travelled a lot and found myself more and more drawn away from the high art of Europe, towards the rawness and depth of what is sometimes called primitive art – particularly its association with ritual, community, and the spiritual. I would often feel creatively conflicted in wanting to be better and achieve the greatness of many amazing figurative sculptures, while also wanting to create something with a beautiful simplicity.
But in working with stone, you also want to get the best from that particular material. They are all different, so exploring ways of working, like smaller relief and vessels, allows you to really learn your craft and to make work that has a more saleable value – so in a way, working more like a craftsperson. I am quite comfortable with the terms craftwork and artwork and am doing both all the time.
TP: How do you divide your time between commissioned work and the original pieces you create?
SC: Mostly, my commission work has been smaller pieces over the years, so nothing that takes up too much time. Typically, the spring period is quiet in my other work, so I try to take time then to focus on getting exhibition work done.
TP: Are there any upcoming projects you’d like to share with us?
SC: I am very excited to have my first solo exhibition in Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre next year (date to be confirmed). This will be an opportunity to bring together many years of ideas and also a chance to blend my stonework with weavings, clay work, and other mixed, natural, and foraged materials. The natural environment (and our connection with it) is something I explore all the time, and that will be touched upon in this exhibition; I have also been exploring themes of religion and belief. At all times, making work with skill, craftsmanship and beauty will be important, and my stonework will feature strongly in this exhibition.
Sonia Caldwell is an artist who works with a variety of materials including stone and natural plant materials and likes to balance the craft of stone work with creative expression.
