Breaking and re-making, we explore our collective angst at the ongoing and repetitive burden of domestic perfectionism. This becomes cathartic, representing a path to appreciating ‘mended’ things and a recognition of the power of the imperfect and the scar.
Working with installation, film and paint we have created the imperfect dinner table, symbol- ic of the thousands of breaks and remakes in all of our lives. An acceptance of ourselves and our own imperfections
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The Bearded Iris, Acrylic on canvas, 51cm x 41cm
I am pleased to announce that my work ‘The Bearded Iris’, will be exhibited as part of the group show ‘MUD, FOR YOU’ at The Fitzrovia Gallery in London, from the 28/03 - 2/04.
There will be a private view on the 31/03 at 6pm.
You reserve tickets here: MUD, FOR YOU
The shared exchanges that we have with others are valuable snippets of inspiration, motivation and camaraderie…
Read MoreWith this is mind, I see it as positive progress that St. Brigit is now officially marked in Ireland, thanks to Herstory’s continued pressure and the drive to illuminate the joyous celebration of all Mná (women), our Celtic Goddess, Marton Saint and Imbolc, as well as the ancient festival of Spring.
Read MorePIETA IN METAVERSE listed for the JACKSON'S PRIZE 2022
I am delighted to announce that my work, ‘Pieta in Metaverse’ has been selected for the Jackson’s Prize 2022. The next selection to the short-list will be decided by people’s choice voting, which is now open.
Pieta in Metaverse, selected for Jackson’s Art Prize.
Once you’ve followed the link, voting is easy. Just follow these steps:
Register
Click ON PORTRAIT/Figure in BROWSE BY CATAGORY
Go to page 2 box at bottom of page and find painting ...
Click on heart ❤️
Jackson’s Painting Prize exists to champion exceptional artworks made by international artists at all points in their careers, with tailored prizes that aim to give successful applicants the exposure and resources to support them in their practice.
PIETA IN METAVERSE IS FROM THE PIETA SERIES
I seek to dismantle the art historical tropes of women’s roles ; mother or sufferers without agency, by opening her view into the alternate universe ; the ‘metaverse’.
The Pieta by Michelangelo epitomizes this subject in a monumental way. The immense sculpture, carved from a single block of marble, has a particular feature that interests me. This is, that ‘Mary’ has the undeniable appearance of youth, this point has been recognized since the works conception, with Michelangelo’s suggestion that the purity of such virginal women allows them not to age.
The persistence of such unbalanced concepts about women, have trickled down through the centuries, remaining with us today. I seek to dismantle this delusion by presenting mothers who respond with disinterest – a mother who stares fixedly at a screen or drinks her wine absentmindedly. A mother in a bathroom, denotive of the passive Bonnard nudes and finally, a mythologically inspired woman who releases her justified rage.
From the homicidal bitchin'
That goes down in every kitchen
To determine who will serve and who will eat
From the wells of disappointment
Where the women kneel to pray
For the grace of God in the desert here
And the desert far away
Excerpt from ‘Democracy’ Leonard Cohen, 1992
The installation is influenced by the jewel-like quality of eastern miniature paintings. The work is a growing entity, a work in progress that may become more sculptural as I continue to unpick old stories. My inspiration so far has came from the works of the Baroque Masters, Artemisia Gentileschi and Elisabetta Sirani, alongside that of contemporary women artists such as Paula Rego and Alice Maher.
Read MoreI use the power of colour as a tool, not only to cover up this story but to eviscerate it, to burn it away. The colours seep and pour and through that process they singe the story. All I leave is the hand of Phoebe, letting us see her feeble struggle while the horses hooves rear up over her in blackness. This process of unlearning is not a comfortable one.
Read More‘Subject to Change’ brings together the work of seven emerging international artists responding to our ever changing political and physical environment where identities and the politics of memory keep being renegotiated.With social and political volatility heightened, this exhibition by a group of Postgraduate alumni from Camberwell College of Arts pertinently questions the symbolic capital attached to established cultural myths, interrogates the on-going struggles in contemporary geopolitics and de-constructs the embodiment of gender and identity.
Read MoreThe first, ‘Covid Warrior’, was inspired by a recent fashion campaign; each model on the catwalk carried another woman either draped on her shoulders or wrapped around her waist. This show of solidarity contrasts starkly with the solitary figure in the second painting, 'Cares of the World'.
…I called this work ‘The Avengers,’ partly inspired by the TV show in the seventies with the same name. Having a female role model like Diane Rigg was exhilarating, she was so cool, sleek and untouchable. How important is it for girls to see someone they can look up to? Artemisia Gentileschi and Elizabetta Sirani were two female artists whose work reflected their interest in responding to this issues, both Baroque artists from Italy.
Read MoreThe Burning Roof is an online exhibition bringing together three artists, Cathy Hayes, Mary De Vincentis and Ursula Burke. From different backdrops and on divergent trajectories, these artists converge under the wordage of WB Yeats’ Sonnet ‘Lena and the Swan.’ Inadvertently, their work, practices and motivations interlink through themes of mythology, mysticism, historical classical and baroque reference, lived experience, emotion and societal politics.
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