''Earth Goddess'' is a ceramic sculpture in

St Austell St Austell (; kw, Sans Austel) is a town in Cornwall, England, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. St Austell is one of the largest towns in Cornwall; at the 2011 census it had a population of 19,958. History St Austell wa ...

, Cornwall. It was created by ceramicist Sandy Brown. ''Earth Goddess'' was unveiled in June 2022 and is the tallest ceramic sculpture in the United Kingdom.

Description

''Earth Goddess'' was created by the English ceramicist Sandy Brown. ''Earth Goddess'' is 11.5 meters in height with 6 meter wide arms and stands in a square in the town of

in the English county of Cornwall. It depicts a female figure with outstretched arms decorated with bright 'blobs' of colour. It is formed from five large circles of clay places on top of each other. Each circle is formed of three parts. The ''BBC News'' reporter Rebecca Jones described the construction of ''Earth Goddess'' as "Technically challenging ... a bit like giant ceramic beads on a metal pole". The creation of ''Earth Goddess'' cost £90,000. Upon completion it was the tallest ceramic sculpture in the United Kingdom.

Background

''Earth Goddess'' forms part of the Austell Projects – Whitegold Art Trail of 18 newly commissioned public art works of ceramic sculptures that reflect the historic china clay industry of St Austell. The trail is intended to form part of the economic regeneration of St Austell. The curator of the Austell Projects, Alex Murdin, said that the purpose of the project was to "encouraging people to think differently about their place and see it differently as well". Brown described her motivation for creating ''Earth Goddess'' as wanting the " ... sculpture to make an impact and I wanted her to be female and making an impact". The choice of a female form for the sculpture was due to Brown's perception that there was a lack of large scale female forms in public art and it " ...sort of took me right back actually to my mother – my mother was criticised by her parents for being a girl. They were farmers, they wanted sons. And so my mother was never able to celebrate being female, so I think it's about time that we did."

Reception

The local Member of Parliament, Steve Double, said that 90% of the comments that he had seen and heard about the sculpture were negative. He said that he would not be present at its official unveiling. A St Austell town councillor, Richard Pears, said he liked it and thought that " ... the purpose of art is to provoke, it's to be worthy of talking about. A sculpture that nobody gave a damn about would be a complete waste of everybody's time. I would take a talking point over a boring piece of art any day". A group of local church leaders condemned the sculpture in a letter to St Austell Town Council, describing the statue as “

idolatrous Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the A ...

” and calling for its renaming or removal. Brown said that she had not experienced such criticism before and compared the negative reception of the piece to the criticism received by

Anthony Gormley Sir Antony Mark David Gormley (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor. His works include the ''Angel of the North'', a public sculpture in Gateshead in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998; ''Another Pl ...

's ''

Angel of the North The ''Angel of the North'' is a contemporary sculpture by Antony Gormley, located in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. Completed in 1998, it is believed to be the largest sculpture of an angel in the world and is viewed by an estimated 33 m ...

'' sculpture and works by

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...

. Brown said that " ... they were all hugely criticised at the start. It took quite a while. I think that can happen and in time people grow to love it". Brown said of ''Earth Goddess'' that "I think she looks amazing, I'm really pleased with her".

References

{{italic title 2022 establishments in England 2022 sculptures Abstract sculptures in the United Kingdom Ceramic sculptures Cornish culture Outdoor sculptures in England Sculptures of goddesses Sculptures of women in the United Kingdom St Austell Colossal statues in the United Kingdom