About Maureen Quin
By Virginia Reid, 2014
Maureen Quin is a deeply passionate and emotionally engaged artist. South African Art and the South African viewing public are the richer for the insightful and thematically relevant quality of her works.
Her sculptures transcend and penetrate the surface of social reality; they explore and celebrate the ‘irreducible particularity of all existence, both animate and inanimate’ (Professor Bert Olivier, 1995).
Her art is deeply explored and deeply intelligent; it dislocates our preconceived beliefs and at times jars us from our comfortable concepts of societal norm. Quin’s works at various instances delight and warn; they make the familiar questioned and at times leave one with sorrow or discomfit. They are alive with volumes and eloquent voids; they are visually challenging and harmonious – they beg pondering, which is precisely what she wishes the public to do.
Artist’s statement
“My art is my life, and to evoke a response from the viewer is to share part of my life.”
“I wish,” said Miss Maureen Quin, “that people would not regard sculpture as something to be put on a pedestal apart from everything else. It is only because they see it that way in an art gallery that they never think of having as a part of their home which can be placed in many different places. The nice thing about sculpture, “she continued, “is that when you get tired of one aspect all you have to do is turn it around for an entirely different view.”
“My sculptures are not conceptual works, where thought is the main thing and sculptural form is ignored. My works are sculptures first and foremost, the result of deep emotional responses to the world around me. They are not illustrative, conveying their message to the viewer in a subtler way. My sculptures are triggered by human relationships and predicaments and they find expression through the human figure.
It’s difficult to explain the creative path. I normally start with drawings, and more drawings, where I compose shapes and forms and spaces between these: on paper and in my mind. I draw until I get under the skin of my subject – till I can “feel” that sculpture in me. After constructing the armature, I concentrate on the shapes and forms in space – composition and silhouette – then suddenly the work takes on a life of its own – the emotional content starts to manifest itself – the dialogue begins, between myself and the sculpture.
This dialogue is essential for me; it’s a tremendous stage of discovery, an adventure into my own inner self. The sculpture acquires a spirit and a personality. While I work I’m constantly looking at the composition in space – the tensions within the individual forms and the relationships between them….to me this is the essence of sculpture.”
Awards
1990
Silver Medal for contribution to Sculpture in South Africa by the University of Pretoria.
2000
Arts and Culture Award from the Eastern Cape Government for contributing to 3d arts in the Eastern Cape.
2016
On the 29th of June Maureen Quin was awarded the 2016 Medal of Honour for Visual Art from the South African Academy of Science and Culture at a prestigious event at the Atterbury Theater in Pretoria. (photo)
Collections
Maureen Quin has been a sculptor for 65 years and has had the privilege of having her sculptures bought by the following institutions for their art collections. Her early works were cast in resin or carved from wood but her preferred medium is bronze.
Collection | Venue | Title | Medium |
Public Library | Umtata | Xhosa Dialogue | Resin |
Hester Rupert Art Gallery | Graaf-Reinette | Abstract Torso | Bronze |
Ann Bryant Art Gallery | East London | Couple | Bronze |
Trapeze Artiste II | Bronze | ||
Welkom Municipality Art Collection | Welkom | Drinking Horse & Rider | Bronze |
Standard Bank Art Collection | Johannesburg | Moving Torso | Wood |
Stellenbosch Farmers Winery Art Collection | Stellenbosch | Watching | Bronze |
Ouzo Drinker | Bronze | ||
Resignation | Bronze | ||
Bistro Siesta | Bronze | ||
Portraits of Lothar Barth and Gunther Brose | Bronze | ||
Potchefstroom University Art Collection | Potchefstroom | Victims | Bronze |
Queen | Bronze | ||
Open Heart | Bronze | ||
Panel for Science Department | |||
University of the Free State Art Collection | Bloemfontein | Vaulted Shapes | Bronze |
King George VI Art Gallery | Port Elizabeth | Victim | Oak & Aluminum |
University of the Western Cape Art Collection | Cape Town | Communications Disc | |
Oliewenhuis Art Museum | Bloemfontein | Shackled Man | Bronze |
Chase I | Bronze | ||
Anton Rupert Foundation | Stellenbosch | Interlocking Heads | Bronze |
First Bowring Bank Art Collection | Port Elizabeth | ||
Pretoria University Permanent Art Collection | Pretoria | Male Jackal-Head Squatting Figure | Bronze |
Pretoria Art Museum | Pretoria | Mother and Baby | Bronze |
Cape of Good Hope Bank Art Collection | Cape Town | ||
Syfrets Ltd Art Collection | Cape Town | Hunter | Bronze |
C.S.I.R | Pretoria | Africa | Bronze & Resin |
Nedbank | Durban | Family Group | Bronze |
Public Library, Umtata
Title | Medium |
Xhosa Dialogue | Resin |
Hester Rupert Art Gallery, Graaf-Reinette
Title | Medium |
Abstract Torso | Bronze |
Ann Bryant Art Gallery, East London
Title | Medium |
Couple | Bronze |
Trapeze Artiste II | Bronze |
Welkom Municipality Art Collection, Welkom
Title | Medium |
Drinking Horse & Rider | Bronze |
Standard Bank Art Collection, Johannesburg
Title | Medium |
Moving Torso | Wood |
Stellenbosch Farmers Winery Art Collection, Stellenbosch
Title | Medium |
Watching | Bronze |
Ouzo Drinker | Bronze |
Resignation | Bronze |
Bistro Siesta | Bronze |
Portraits of Lothar Barth and Gunther Brose | Bronze |
Potchefstroom University Art Collection, Potchefstroom
Title | Medium |
Victims | Bronze |
Queen | Bronze |
Open Heart | Bronze |
Panel for Science Department |
University of the Free State Art Collection, Bloemfontein
Title | Medium |
Vaulted Shapes | Bronze |
King George VI Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth
Title | Medium |
Victim | Oak & Aluminum |
University of the Western Cape Art Collection, Cape Town
Title | Medium |
Communications Disc |
Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein
Title | Medium |
Shackled Man | Bronze |
Chase I | Bronze |
Anton Rupert Foundation, Stellenbosch
Title | Medium |
Interlocking Heads | Bronze |
First Bowring Bank Art Collection, Port Elizabeth
Title | Medium |
Pretoria University Permanent Art Collection, Pretoria
Title | Medium |
Male Jackal-Head Squatting Figure | Bronze |
Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria
Title | Medium |
Mother and Baby | Bronze |
Cape of Good Hope Bank Art Collection, Cape Town
Title | Medium |
Syfrets Ltd Art Collection, Cape Town
Title | Medium |
Hunter | Bronze |
C.S.I.R, Pretoria
Title | Medium |
Africa | Bronze & Resin |
Nedbank, Durban
Title | Medium |
Family Group | Bronze |