Joe Sheehan – Set in Stone Essay by JULIAN MCKINNON
Stone carving often comes with a sense of dead-set seriousness, as if it bears monumental consequence. To an extent, this is warranted; carved stone can endure for millennia. Though from a cosmological perspective, millennia are fleeting increments of time—“why so serious?” one may well ask. Sheehan’s work manages to reconcile these polarities. It carries gravitas though retains some conviviality at the same time. The mineral crust of the earth is largely comprised of rocky material. Such matter has been shaped by vast and powerful forces over countless millenia—heat, pressure, time, gravity, entropy. The nett effect of deep time and geological processes is a material that is inert, weighty, and inflexible. For all this static density, Joe Sheehan breathes life into stone. He gives it an appearance of malleability, shaping it as if it were soft and pliable. The apparent ease with which he does this can be attributed to a masterful level of skill. Stone carving often comes with a sense of dead-set seriousness, as if it bears monumental consequence. To an extent, this is warranted; carved stone can endure for millenia. Though from a cosmological perspective, millenia are fleeting increments of time —“why so serious?” one may well ask. Sheehan’s work manages to reconcile these polarities. It carries gravitas though retains some conviviality at the same time. He achieves this effect in part through replicating everyday objects in stone, rather than the material typical to that object. One could call this a re-presentation of form, or mimesis. This text addresses three works, each of which navigates material and mimesis in subtly different ways. The Quick and the Dead (Lot 17) is comprised of a substantial number of carved stone objects. Each piece is in some way modelled on a remote control, or console, though all are unique. Carved from an assortment of greywacke, basalt, and argillite, they directly reference Neolithic adzes and hand tools. This sits in contrast to the representation of contemporary electronic devices. The objects are mimetically convincing to the point that one might almost expect functionality. Nevertheless, their materiality is Webb's
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evident in areas of coarse chipped and unworked stone. The crafting of the materials give some the appearance of broken or weathered plastic whilst others appear as if they’ve been unearthed in a futuristic archaeological dig. In that sense the work seems out of time. This intentional anachronistic effect is a vein that runs through Sheehan’s practice. In the case of 1lb (Lot 60), the object has the appearance of an old-fashioned scale weight. The imperial measurement adds to the retro effect. The material, however, speaks to a different past. It is made of pounamu, which carries associations of tangata whenua and the pre-colonial era. In the beguiling simplicity of this object, there is a layered historical reading. There is ample room for subjective interpretation. Bracelet and Key (Lot 16) is stone, shaped as a single handcuff, with metal adornments and a standalone key. The work is rendered in nephrite jade, minerally the same as pounamu, along with silver, brass and steel. The finish on this work is very fine, as though a jeweller might have made it. The titling of the work as a bracelet furthers this affectation of adornment, but that the object is shaped as a handcuff inverts this reading. Such subtle plays of contrasting meaning are at the core of the conceptual terrain Sheehan so nimbly inhabits. These works presented together offer a compelling look in to the practice of an artist with a unique voice. His works offer a high level of crafsmanship and thoughtprovoking conceptual nuance. Sheehan gives shape to stone, presenting timeless forms that will hold meaning for generations and perhaps eons.
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