Betwixt and Between, 2015
charcoal and graphite on incised archival paper, 122cm x 189cm.
National Museum of Australia, 2011
The univeristy of Newcastle, NSW,Australia,2011
The Shopfront Gallery, NSW,Australia 2013
The univeristy of Newcastle, NSW,Australia,2011
The Shopfront Gallery, NSW,Australia 2013
“KIERA’S PRACTICE IN THIS SHOW DEMONSTRATE A CONSIDERED PURSUIT OF
DRAWING ACROSS MEDIA AND MATERIALS, EACH FORM SHARING A
PARTICULAR INTIMACY AND A PERSUASIVE INTENSITY”
BRIAN FAY, VISUAL ARTIST AND FORMER ASSISTANT HEAD OF CREATIVE ARTS, DUBLIN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, IRELAND
THE EXHIBITED CONSISTED OF THREE ENCLOSED SPACES THAT CONCEALED THREE SCULPTURAL AND DRAWING INSTALLATIONS: OUR LADY OF CURRACH, INIMIREACH (IMMIGRANT), AND GREETINGS FROM THE IRISH IN AUSTRALIA (LARGE SCALE DRAWING ON MASKING TAPE AS SURFACE). THE DISJUNCTIVE EXPERIENCE OF LIVING OUTSIDE MY PSYCHOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL LIVING SPACE INFORMED MY FASCINATION WITH PLACE AND IRISH NATIONAL IDENTITY. THE WORKS OF ART ACTED AS A FORM OF VISUAL EXCHANGE BETWEEN IRELAND AND AUSTRALIA.
USING GRAVEYARDS, IN WICKLOW AND IN SLIGO AS HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL SITES, O’TOOLE’S
RESEARCH PROJECT OUTCOMES CULMINATE IN THIS EXHIBITION. THE EXHIBITION CREATES A
SPACE WHERE DRAWING REACHES BACK AND FORWARD BETWEEN TIMES PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE TO
EXPRESS NEW LINES OF BEING IRISH
JENNY SHERWIN, WICKLOW COUNTY ARTS OFFICER
THE CATALYST FOR THIS EXHIBITION CAME WHEN ARCHAEOLOGIST YVONNE WHITTY INVITED ME TO TAKE RUBBINGS OF SOME OF THE HEADSTONES FOR PROJECT THE STORY OF PREBAN GRAVEYARD IN TINAHELY, COUNTY WICKLOW IN 2014. FUNDED BY THE HERITAGE COUNCIL, THE ARCHEOLOGICAL PROJECT DOCUMENTED THE ANCIENT SITE WHICH INCLUDES THE HALLMARKS OF AN ENCLOSED EARLY MEDIEVAL CHURCH/MONASTIC SITE, ROCK ART DATING FROM THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD (C.4000-2500 BC) WHICH WAS DISCOVERED BY ARCHAEOLOGIST CHRIS CORLETT AND SLATE STONES BY AN ACCOMPLISHED STONE MASON DENIS CULLEN OF MONASEED DURING THE 18TH CENTURY. TAKING PREBAN AS A SITE OF DEPARTURE, I RESEARCHED THE EMBLEMATIC AND AMBIGUOUS IMAGERY FOUND IN GRAVEYARDS AND ANCIENT BURIAL GROUNDS IN COUNTIES OF WICKLOW AND SLIGO WHERE A FUSION OF MEGALITHIC, PAGAN, FAMINE, CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT STORIES MERGED.
THE DRAWINGS IN THIS EXHIBITION ARE A MEASURE OF THE PRESENCE OF SELF IN THE WORK AND ACT AS SPACES TO POSIT THE QUESTION; CAN THESE MARKERS OF INDIVIDUALS, SOCIETIES AND CULTURES ACT AS THRESHOLDS TO EXPLORE THE AUTHORSHIP OF SPIRITUALITY IN CONTEMPORARY IRELAND IN AN AGE OF SECULARISM? THROUGH AN EXPLORATION OF THESE PUBLICLY PRIVATE SACRED SPACES, THE EXHIBITION ALSO SERVES AS A REMINDER OF OUR OWN MORTALITY AND HOW IN CONVERSING ABOUT DEATH, WE INEVITABLY TALK ABOUT LIFE.
THE DRAWINGS IN THIS EXHIBITION ARE A MEASURE OF THE PRESENCE OF SELF IN THE WORK AND ACT AS SPACES TO POSIT THE QUESTION; CAN THESE MARKERS OF INDIVIDUALS, SOCIETIES AND CULTURES ACT AS THRESHOLDS TO EXPLORE THE AUTHORSHIP OF SPIRITUALITY IN CONTEMPORARY IRELAND IN AN AGE OF SECULARISM? THROUGH AN EXPLORATION OF THESE PUBLICLY PRIVATE SACRED SPACES, THE EXHIBITION ALSO SERVES AS A REMINDER OF OUR OWN MORTALITY AND HOW IN CONVERSING ABOUT DEATH, WE INEVITABLY TALK ABOUT LIFE.
BREATH,1.22MINS, 2015
USING THE MOUTH AND BREATH AS A TOOL FOR DRAWING BY BLOWING BLUE PIGMENT ACROSS EIGHT METER FABRIANO PAPER.
USING THE MOUTH AND BREATH AS A TOOL FOR DRAWING BY BLOWING BLUE PIGMENT ACROSS EIGHT METER FABRIANO PAPER.