Owner: Armagh City and District Council

Location: Palace Demesne

Title: ‘Kinetic Blooms’ 1998

Artist: Barry Callaghan & Joanne Risley

Material: Bronze (patinated and polished elements)

Size: 2m (H)

Funded by: Lottery funded through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Armagh City & District Council

Background: The Garden of the Senses is a sensory experience offering elements accessible to both able-bodied and disabled persons. This is a kinetic sculpture commissioned as a result of a competition. It consists of a plant form with a dragonfly resting on an upper leaf. Water spurting from the insect’s mouth fills the uppermost flower head, causing it to tip. The action is then repeated with a second flower form. Designed to be interactive for children, there is a pulley and lever to move the dragonfly’s wings and the lower flower head can be moved by a handle.

Artists Details: Joanne Risley was born in Knutford and completed Foundation in Norwich London Road College of Art. She studied sculpture at Dundee and undertook an MA in University of Ulster, Belfast where she met her partner Barry Callaghan also on the MA programme. Barry Callaghan was born in London in 1960. He studied at the University of Ulster. He has had solo exhibitions at the Octagon and Orpheus Galleries in Belfast and exhibits regularly with the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin and the Royal Ulster Academy, Belfast. Major commissions include ‘Ninth Life’ 1992 for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Sculpture Garden, Riddell Hall. He also created ‘Nest Egg’ 1994 which is located in Northern Bank, Donegall Square, Belfast. Both have worked as sculptors for a number of years and have completed a number of public commissions including sculptures for the integrated artworks project at the Mater Hospital, Belfast. ‘Kinetic Blooms’ was their first collaborative commission.