Intertwined

An exploration of relationship with place.

During 2023-24 I completed an MA in Creative Practice Research in ATU Sligo. For this I worked on a series of artworks exploring the relationship between myself and where I live in North Roscommon. I used only materials I had gathered from within walking distance of my front door. The resulting work is the story of the seasons during which I made it and the cyclical rhythms of the more-than-human world around me. It is the story of disability, of my own rhythms in that time, the limitations and frustrations of dealing with an impaired body. It is the story of relationship, of the land sustaining me and me attempting to look after it, often by neglect. It is the story of love, of a deep gratitude for this earth we live on, this part we play in each other’s lives.

This work will be shown next month in Hyde Bridge Sligo. Details below.

The work I showed was the result of a long time researching materials I collected. I learned to eco-print - a process using pigments from leaves I collected to print onto fabric by boiling them for hours with lumps of metal. The leaves print onto the fabric in somewhat unpredictable ways.

Using plants to make photograms with cyanotype led me to discovering anthotypes. Anthotypes are a photographic method using only plant materials. To do this you make an emulsion from crushed plant material and a small amount of alcohol. You paint this onto paper and leave it to dry in a dark place. I made photograms with plant materials. The plant is laid on top of the paper with glass on top and exposed to the sun, for a long time - several hours to several weeks, to produce a print. Below are anthotypes made using chard and blackcurrant emulsions.

And I experimented with so many plants to make cordage.

All are welcome to the opening on the 5th April at 1pm.

"Take a Seat"

“Take a Seat”

Ash, blackthorn, hazel and deal

Shown here in Yeats’ Society Sligo, November 2023

“Take a seat” is a common and seemingly simple invitation. However, as a person with hidden disabilities, the act of sitting and choice of seating available can present unseen difficulties.

This artwork is designed to represent some of the thinking involved in selecting a seat when your body does not conform to that of the chair’s intended user.

The design of the chair was inspired by the hedge chair. Hedge chairs were made by Irish hedge carpenters in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They made affordable furniture in a sustainable way, choosing pieces of wood that naturally matched the shape they wished to use.

The woods used hold significance in Irish folklore. Blackthorn in particular holds connotations of both harm and protection.

Field rushes

I have been experimenting with drying field rushes before weaving with them. I dry them out for a week or so in a warmish room and then rehydrate them for a few minutes before using by soaking in the bath. It makes for better cordage, although it is still stiff and inflexible (not to mention hard on the fingers to make!)

For Brigid’s crosses it is much better to dry the rushes first, so that the crosses don’t become loose and fall apart when they have dried.

Fill your own cup first

What a year of needing to keep our cups filled. Some stamp carving I did as a reminder to keep filling my own cup.