Museum and Art Swindon 2

I was back volunteering at Museum and Art Swindon this morning.

I popped into the gallery with artwork that had inspired students. Some great work there.

Two Faced Head
Alasdair Neil MacDonell (b.1947)
Ceramic sculpture with applied glaze and carved stone stand, undated
Donated by Mark Golder and Brian Thompson, in memory of Ron Sloman, 2015.

Alasdair Neil MacDonell is a Bath-based ceramicist, known for his highly textured figurative clay sculptures. He uses distinctive cobalt, copper and iron oxides to colour his work.
Much of MacDonell's work centres around the form of the face and explores the way we construct our identities. His work reflects a great interest in early art and antiquities, and often includes masks, head-dresses, helmets and decoration of the face.
Just as our faces carry the lines of our experience, so MacDonell is interested in the way that the damage on archaeological artefacts reveals their long history. He likes to experiment with the transformation of materials in the kiln during the firing process, mirroring the transformative action of external forces on our identities.

DEADLY DEMON
Reflections on Alasdair Neil MacDonell's artwork 'Two Faced Head' by year 5 pupils in Hawks Class at Holy Rood Primary School.
This is a unique sculpture with a face on each side. It has wings coming out from the head and interesting patterns. It is dark, dull-eyed and scary.
This sculpture is intriguing because it has two faces. There is a hole between the two faces and we don't know if it is one person or two. It might even be two sides of the same person. It is a terrifying mask.
It reminds me of a fantasy character, a person from a scary movie, or something you would make in Minecraft. It could be a human, a monster, a goblin, a demon, or a dragon. The wings make it look like a bat. It is a weird creature and gives me the creeps.
It is unusual and makes me want to find out more about it. I feel petrified because it reminds me of paranormal things. The black eyes look evil.
I like the patterns and texture on the mask - they make me want to touch it.
If I could re-name this sculpture, I would call it: 'Battle Bat', 'The Two-Headed Vampire Man' or 'Dragon Face'.