A Lonely Impulse of Delight

This work is based on the poem “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death” written by the famous Irish poet; William Butler Yeats. The poem considers the proposed thoughts of Major Gregory, an Irish pilot who fought in WWI, in a moment of poignant reflection with the suggestion of life being a pointless endeavour without following the individual’s passions and dreams. Through this work I explore my personal passion and love for the beauty and excitement of sailing. I used light materials such as feathers and leaves as symbols of flight to portray the feeling of elation and freedom experienced through sailing and to correspond to Major Gregory’s love for flying planes. Using natural materials also helped me to explore the intimate delicacy of imagination through reflecting upon my childhood of imaginatively using found objects to form small boats on the shoreline and expresses my love for nature.

Materials Used: cane, cotton, seed pod, hessian, string, wax, tissue paper, leaves, feathers, bark, other various found objects.