Francis Upritchard’s bronze sculpture, Eels in Mud (2021) is newly installed at Roche Court Sculpture Park and Gallery.
Stooping over a verdant pond, the strange and uncanny figure’s elongated arms drape to the ground. Hanging from his hands, a swarm of eels twist and contort, some arising from the still green water. In both the eels and the figure, the texture of the skin is rough, sagging and shrivelled, the result of Upritchard’s use of balata rubber to craft her sculptures. The pliable maquettes gain form and character, as her hands combine imagination and intuition at great speed, allowing the works to retain a sense of immediacy and movement.
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Stooping over a verdant pond, the strange and uncanny figure’s elongated arms drape to the ground. Hanging from his hands, a swarm of eels twist and contort, some arising from the still green water. In both the eels and the figure, the texture of the skin is rough, sagging and shrivelled, the result of Upritchard’s use of balata rubber to craft her sculptures. The pliable maquettes gain form and character, as her hands combine imagination and intuition at great speed, allowing the works to retain a sense of immediacy and movement.
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2 July 2025
