About me:
I am based in Sligo on the West Coast of Ireland. I am travelling to and fro to Huddersfield working on the project as well developing a number of projects in Ireland. I am currently showing at S-I-B Contemporary Art in Tokyo, where I completed a residency supported by An Chomhairle Ealion, The Arts Council of Ireland. I co - run Floating World Artists books, with London based artist Glenn Holman. Here is an introduction to my work;
Artists Statement of Practice
I completed a B.A. in Painting at Winchester School of Art in 1989 and an M.A. in Painting at Manchester Metropolitan University in 1990. I moved to Sligo in 2004 after a number of years living and working in London.
My work includes installation, drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture and Artists Books. I have had numerous solo shows in London and Tokyo and shown in group exhibitions such as the Jerwood Drawing Prize.
Along with Glenn Holman I initiated an Artists book publishing venture Floating World in 2003. The books have been showed around the world and are in the collection of galleries and Museums including The British Museum and Tate Modern. I recently curated a survey of Floating Worlds work entitled Reading Room at Sligo Art Gallery. The show included giant book shelves and a sofa as well as a 'making room' in the gallery for members of the public to come in and make their own works.
Other recent projects include a visual essay for Circa magazine entitled 'Romantic (Circa 124 Summer 08) and a number of installations based on the work of Caspar David Friedrich. These include ‘Romantic’ at Yeats Grave in Drumcliffe Co Sligo and ‘Forum’ at the Lakeside forum in Enniskillen Co Fermanagh.
Last year I have undertook a project for the Model Niland in Sligo converting a disused pharmacy into a studio and project space and creating work collaboratively with local young people. The space re named Wolf on Arm has staged a number of innovative shows including Drawing Between a collaborative installation with Tokyo based artist Hidehiko Ishibashi.
My work is an approach to public art using a blend of old and new materials and methods.I rarely work in readily commodifiable media and all the works I produce are aimed at a direct interface with the general public.
The idea I have been exploring recently is the artwork as short term spectacle. This has involved the creation of 'splendid ephemera'; things that have a kind of beauty to them despite the flimsiness of their making and the paucity of the materials used to make them.
The idea of engaging the public with complex themes through strikingly simple iconography has underpinned much of the work for the Model residency as well as informing curatorial undertakings such as Reading Room and collaborative ventures such as 'Drawing Between' with Hidehiko Ishibashi.
News:
The pieces I am working on relate quite closely to my original plan. I am doing a small mantelpiece size sculpture that is inspired by 19th Century Staffordshire pottery. Rather than the traditional shepherd and shepherdess engaged in a bucolic reverie I have two hoodies. The other piece I hope to be able to reproduce in some numbers is a medallion, based on a Baroque original, again with a hooded figure as its protagonist.
There are also some photos of my current show in Japan, and some stills from an online artwork soon to be launched by Circa magazine in Ireland.
