New
Work: Sheenagh Geoghegan, Lorraine Cleary and Nocht Studio
Curated by: Anne Mullee
8 – 31 October 2020
New
Work presents painting, installation and text made by three Tipperary-based artists selected as part of South Tipperary Arts Centre’s Curator-in-Residence programme 2020.
Independent
Curator Anne Mullee mentored the artists to produce new work, initiating a series of meetings and professional development workshops which began in February. The programme quickly had to adapt to the online world as the Covid-19 crisis emerged.
Inevitably
the resulting work is not unscathed by events of this year, with issues including loneliness, depression, injustice and indecision addressed in particular by Geoghegan in her series of figurative drawings and collages. Confronting fear, anxiety and uncertainty through her work is central to Geoghegan’s practice, issues which she also grapples with through the newly conceived text presented here.
Explorations
of injustice also thread through Lorraine Cleary’s bold installation. Here ideas around trauma in domestic spaces and ‘residue’ left behind is teased out through the use of layered textiles tacked together to form an enormous, suffocating cloak of rags.
Nocht’s
contribution to New Work consists of three conceptual studies, presented as interactive installations, of the ongoing series Narcissus. Offering a series of devices for engaging – or not – with the self, the pair use beautifully crafted objects to reflect or repel the viewer’s attempts to see themselves. In an era of hyper awareness of our own image, the futile attempt to ‘see’ ourselves renews our questioning of the notion of the self.
Curator’s
Note:
That
all of the programme artists have carried on throughout the past seven months to make new work is an indictment of the resilience and tenacity often present in the artist’s toolkit, qualities that are frequently undervalued yet all the more evident as the crisis continues. My sincere thanks to Lorraine, Sheenagh, Phil and Martin for their commitment to and patience with this process, and congratulations to all on making new work in a time of crisis.
Anne
Mullee
September
2020
Lady Caterpillar is a subtle commentary on how women's lives are dictated by a patriarchal society where frequently she is expected to remain within the realm of domesticity. Constructed from suffocating layers of hand-stitched fabric suspended from two mop handles, emulating a puppeteer’s control. Domestic
tropes within the installation are representative of the females’ entrapment within the home. The
mug is a commentary at how limited women's choices are perceived. The puppet master is used as a metaphor / symbol of this oppression.
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