Innumerable Subtle Creations

I did it.  My first solo print show.  (Note the 'first' in that sentence expresses the hope that there will be more to come).

It was very stressful.  For months I thought about little else, yet actually going into the studio was hard.  It made it real and opened up the possibility for disappointments, for maybe realising I am not as a good a printer in real life as I am in my head.  I struggled with visualising the concepts and ideas I had in mind for the show, but funnily enough, never doubted that the concepts were wrong.  I still think they were right and I think the prints I made expressed them well and left the ideas and the visuals open enough for future work to develop.

Statements and images from the opening night are below.  I would like to thank again Limerick Printmakers for the opportunity, Isabella Walsh and Tom for helping me put up and take down the show, Blackstack Studio in Kilkenny for tolerating rice everywhere as I worked on these prints, Ormston House for the loan of the video screen, Des McMahon for opening the show and everyone who braved the stormy Limerick night to be there.

“ ... wandering above and below, the Spirit makes for himself innumerable subtle creations¹”

(Mascaro, 1965, p. 135)

Shortly after moving to Waterford, I was in a charity shop in the small town of Kilmacthomas.  On the changing room floor I found a translation of the Upanishads; ancient Sanskrit texts, written between 800 BCE and 1400 CE, which form the basis of Hinduism and some aspects of Buddhism.  The incongruity of finding this book in so unlikely a place seemed like a contemporary version of something that might have happened in one of the stories in the book and so I bought it.

One of the key philosophies of the Upanishads is Oneness;  the deepest level of our being is the same as that of Brahman, the Absolute who creates and maintains the entire universe.   This connects us not only with the divine but also with everything else in existence from molecular to cosmic.  Separateness is an illusion which causes suffering.  The successive breaking down of the interconnectedness between ourselves and the universe we live in is having catastrophic effects upon individuals, societies, nations and the planet; reducing our humanity and estranging us from the wonder and variety of life that nourishes our spirits.  We become facsimiles of ourselves, driven this way and that, yet tethered. 

Rather than prescriptive instructions, the Upanishads present a universal message, which pertains directly to global society, that only when we are reconnected with the universe through joy, love, meditation and contemplation do we achieve liberation. 

 The works in this show consider these ideas primarily through the mediums of intaglio and monoprinting.   Referencing Indian mudras (hand gestures performed as part of Hindu and Buddhist spiritual practice) and the ornate decoration found in Indian textiles and temples, there is a meditative aspect to these works both in their creation and contemplation.  Our spirits need a slow and quiet wandering to be able to form for ourselves the subtle, simple creations that will reconnect us to each other and the world in which we live.

Vanessa Donoso Lopez at LCGA - Eye Before E Except After See

I have seen Vanessa Donoso Lopez's work previously in several Ormston House shows (Dogs, The Founding Phant and Thick, Turgid and Lacking in Soothing Oil) and for me, it has always stood out from anything else in the gallery.  To be included in such diverse exhibitions suggests that this is versatile work; to stand out in these shows suggests that Vanessa Donoso Lopez is a woman with her own voice.

The title of the show gives you a clue.  It is playful and seems to poke a non-native speaker's fun at the strange conventions of the English language.  The work too is playful and provides a visual language that is clearly personal but universally understandable due to it's tactility, exuberance and approachability - the use of simple, familiar and often nostalgic materials invite the viewer in through familiarity and recognition.  The exhibition fills four spaces in the upstairs gallery and every space is given to different works.  All feel connected either through the use of colour, materials or the sequence of repetition that is found throughout Donoso Lopez's work. There are accompanying texts to the work in each of these different spaces by Helen Carey, Ross Birrell and Beatriz Escudera Garcia and they are all heavily stuffed with ideas ranging from a contextual history of homesickness to the unheimlich.  You do not need to know any of this to enjoy this exhibition.  In some way in fact, the dry, academic tone of all three texts takes away the joy at seeing tiny ceramic nests, paper rainbows, feathers dancing on a breeze, white strings of beads like necklaces, or a snail with a speaker horn for a shell moving over an old 78 record.  It is better to go in unawares and enter the strange world of Donoso Lopez and let yourself be delighted with each new room and object.

Personally, I found ceramic works in The Carnegie Gallery and The Dark Room to be Lopez's most beguiling works of the show.  There is a purity and simplicity to the ceramic pieces; strings of hand-made beads, extruded coils of clay hung simply over nails, plaited clay coils, and simple nest forms.  The room is almost like a visual detox - the forms are simple and off-white on white walls.  They are soothing to look at but their evolution carries you around the gallery, nose almost against the wall as shapes and ideas develop.  It is like watching the artist play and the delight that often accompanies play seems fired into these pieces.

The Dark Room has been described by Garcia as ".. a dismal room ... a room of infantile terror" and certainly there is something childlike to it.  But The Dark Room, despite it's title, has light and movement as motion activated motors bring it to life when you enter.  One noisy, whirring motor drives a stick with a home-made feather fan on the end that rises and falls back against a table with a clack.  At first it is startling but then comes relief and laughter at this crazy object, rhythmically rising and falling.  At the back of the room are old-fashioned table lamps that have each circle fans revolving above them in the heat like circles of moths.  A pink feather tied to a piece of sewing thread dances in a breeze from a fan below it whilst another feather, revolves around and around a tea pot lid.  All these kinetic works and more are housed on nests of tables, as if in a junk shop or attic.  It is as if these objects, shut away together for years decided to build a mechanical world for themselves and so they did, delicately and playfully, and we are privileged to move through it and the whole show itself, slowly and shyly, giving it time and quiet awe.

The show runs until August 28, 2015.

 http://www.vanessadonosolopez.com/

Leave Now By Any Practical Means

My first solo show has just finished at Ormston House in Limerick.  Exhibition statement and images below:-

In February 1996, I went on holiday to Syria.  Disembarking at Damascus airport, there were Syrian soldiers with assault rifles standing shoulder to shoulder on both sides of the short walk from the airside gate to the baggage collection hall.  In Damascus I stayed at the Al Faradis hotel.  It was close to the Ministry of the Interior which was guarded by soldiers.  Walking along the street one evening I passed a sentry who whispered ’Hello’.

The Lonely Planet online guide still recommends the Al Faradis (meaning paradise) as one of the best hotels in Damascus¹.  It is still possible to book a room online at the Four Seasons Damascus for €290/night yet, due to sanctions, it is impossible to book a commercial flight to Syria from any European country².  The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office warn against all travel to Syria and advise UK citizens to ‘leave now by any practical means’³.  At the time of writing there are over 3.3 million ‘persons of concern’ recorded by the UN High Commission for Refugees living in countries outside Syria such as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.  The Irish Government have recently agreed to resettle 201 Syrians this year with another 220 planned for 2015 and 2016⁴. 

This exhibition aims to act as a reminder that the conflict in Syria continues and to present an alternative view of a country and situation which is being largely ignored by Western media and society.  The situation is Syria is undoubtedly complex and this exhibition does not aim to give any answers.  It seeks to ‘re-humanise’ the Syrian crisis by opening a debate upon our perceptions and from this, treatment, of a country which is currently being fought over by three factions together with Western, Russian and Chinese influences also looking to develop or maintain their own interests. 

 The fact remains that, but for the catastrophic effect of this war on Syria and its people, this exhibition of holiday snaps and memorabilia would not take place at all.  

More images can be found on the Ormston House Facebook page here.

Cornelia Parker - Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester

Whilst in England I got to see Cornelia Parker's new show at the newly refurbished Whitworth Gallery in Manchester.  I was so pleased I saw this show, Cornelia Parker being one of my favourite artists.  I love the way she looks at the world and wasn't disappointed with the work in this show which included some of her most well-known pieces and also some new works.  The Gallery was packed as well which was great to see and as well as this exhibition, the Whitworth also had a small show of Sarah Lucas's work and prints by Thomas Schuette.  Now I wasn't too gone on the prints, but they did make me itchy to be printing again.