No one could accuse Steve O’Connor’s Return to Nest exhibition as lacking focus; a huge 77 items are nearly all dedicated to the theme from tiny clay birds to one metre hanging cane nests, arrowheads in paper clay with marble oxide to chalk, charcoal and acrylic paint on large canvases. The creativity around the theme is remarkable and the patience and craftsmanship with which so many of the items are created a credit. Many look as if the materials worked with would not be straight forward, brittle yet requiring malleability – like the nests themselves and their purpose in life.

The Urban Cow Studio is an ideal place for such an exhibition, being its own house of curios, for here in Return To Next those looking for anything from a wall painting to a quaint paperweight will find objects of interest. The cane hanging nests are fine pieces with titles that evoke the safe refuge nature of nests such as Looking Out on a Misty Morning and Killin’ Time in the Afternoon Rain and stand out in the exhibition not only for their size.

O’Connor’s paintings are far more abstract that his moulded work, many featuring nest like shapes perched on top of bended tree trunks. These are motifs that look they could be a collaboration between Tim Burton and Salvador Dali but they work as individual art pieces in and of themselves.

Well worth the visit and have your credit card handy.

Kryztoff Rating   4K