Visual Art: Between man and beast

Billy Leahy on Paloma Verga Weisz's exhibition of sculpture and paper works at the Douglas Hyde Gallery

Paloma Verga Weisz, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College Dublin. 01 8961116, www.douglashydegallery.com. Until 16 September

Paloma Varga Weisz's 'Haarige Frau' (Hairy Woman) stares out rigidly from the back wall of the Douglas Hyde Gallery. Tufts and ridges of hair swathe her body as she balances on a spherical ball of limewood, her head still attached to a small, uneven block of the material from which she was sculpted. The figure is neither a fully evolved person nor an animal, but a hybrid, or perhaps a transitional human form.

This animal-man symbiosis is typical of Varga Weisz's work and is repeated in other sculptures on display in Dublin. In 'Hirsch, Stehend' (Deer Standing), a stout deer stands erect on a block of wood, facing the wall. The posture is certainly human-like, and the gesture of facing the wall seems to be psychologically-charged, suggesting that the animal is feeling regret or shame. Elsewhere, the centrally-placed sculpture, 'Kampfhund' (Fighting Dog) depicts a cross between a boy and a dog, where the eyes of the figure have been carved three times, suggesting motion blurring or even a heightened sense of perception.

The surreal figure in 'Kampfhund' is surrounded by a neat circle of limewood chunks, an element that plays on the ideas of origin and genesis. This implication appears also in 'Haarige Frau' – Varga Weisz deliberately chose not to fully separate or liberate the figure from its raw material. The overall impression from these features is that the hybrids are not supposed to supply a physical representation of an evolutionary 'missing link', but rather a psychological one.

Varga Weisz's use of traditional materials like limewood and an aesthetic grammar that is close to the late-Gothic style locates her work visually in a religious sphere. The most recent sculpture on display, 'Hand in Hand', which is a burnt carving of a head between two hands only adds to this air. The sense of the religious is undermined, but not negated by the folkloric element, which strays towards a more fantasist and mystic direction than a religious one.

A lot less captivating than the sculpture pieces are Varga Weisz's works on paper, which come across as apologetic and fragile. At times they threaten to disconcert, but sadly they are not strong enough to follow through on this initial promise. Even the element of humour fails to endear them to the viewer. These works on paper are withdrawn and introverted and the moody atmosphere they create is positive, but visually and thematically, they add little to the sculptures, which are infinitely more fascinating.