'In Conversation'


LOCIS Residency with lead artist Johan Thurfjell, LOCIS is a 2 year European Cultural Program between Sweden, Poland and Ireland
LOCAL Exhibition at the The Dock, Carrick on Shannon, Co.Leitrim, Ireland.  Artists Johan Thurfjell (Se), Julia Adzuki (SE)
Linda Shevlin (IE), Brigitta Varadi (IE), Karolina Żyniewicz (PL )

Date: November 5th-29th,2014, 

Essay: BETWEEN FIELDWORK AND MYTH: LOCATING IRISH ART ON THE PERIPHERIES - Joanne Laws 

(re)examining identity

Almost like a traveling monk, I journey between different places in the world, observing significant/insignificant differences which might not have been visible had I only stayed in one location. The work and the process has become a vehicle for reconnecting my past, present and future, with the aim of finding a place of contentment embedded in different cultures, unifying the fragments of my daily life, reflecting its essence of renewal and memories of the past.

Sheep Farmer Benedict Gallagher, Mass Hill, Lough Easkey, Co.Sligo, Barley hay-Denny Dolan, Shasnacurry, Co.Leitrim


Conversation I. 
'In conversation' references Donald Judd’s work ‘the bed’ creating a dialogue between male and female approach to creation examining female cultural identity. Why have I created a conversation with Donlad Judd? he was comfortable moving, like Noguchi between applied and visual art. As an artist working with the medium of wool only after spending more and more time in New York I have finally found a release from this pressurizing division, and I could put my practice and work in context.
Conversation II.
I brought up by my grandmother and if she could be here and if you would ask her what happiness meant for her, she would answer: ''knowing that after a long day of hard work I am going to rest in my own bed with clean bedding which has the scent of sunshine, means everything for me'' My bed has a scent of hay, barley hay and not sunshine but for me the smell of hay revokes the summer of my childhood.
Conversation III.
The making of the mattress references and reflects on a Hungarian traditional way of living which is long gone where every two weeks you would remake your bedding and stuff fresh hay into your mattress and burn the old hay to get rid of the bad dreams and nightmares.
Conversation IV.
Using Irish sheep wool from local farmers, mountain sheep wool where the continuity of the sheep farmers’ tradition through generations at the North West of Ireland still defining the rural countryside. the wool is from: Benedict Gallagher, farmer, Mass Hill, Lough Easkey, Co. Sligo The living tradition in the north west of rural Ireland surrounds me and giving me a base to remain in the reality of human existence, the yearly cycle of life and death and continuity providing me place where I feel home and contained.


LOCIS is designed as a knowledge-sharing project which seeks to create opportunities for artists to work together, regardless of their place of residence, and to enable them to establish collaborative relations and dialogue with internationally renowned artists who will also be involved in the project. Each residency program will engage artists from Poland, Sweden and Ireland. LOCIS in 2014 will be thematically oriented towards exploration of our physical, social and political environment and alternative or self organized forms of artistic and social interaction. Being located in places where artistic communities share the need for having a high degree of cultural activity and exchange, this collaborative project offers an opportunity to contemplate how artists help us consider new possibilities for social organization, our understanding of place, and ways to transcend physical, cultural and political boundaries.

.

Publication

 

The documentation presented in the LOCIS website (link) is alo published in the form of a hardback book.

You can view this book online > View Online 

Or download a print-ready pdf > Download Publication

If you would like to purchase a hardback copy of the book please contact one of the three project partners on the contacts page.

Image by Padraig Cunningham

 

 

 

 

'In Conversation' IN OTHER VENUES

2017 Bare Root - Wexford Arts Centre, Wexford, Ireland, curated by Catherine Bowe, Visual Arts Manager of the Wexford Arts Centre, 2019 Ad Astra Per Aspera, Wassaic, NY,  2016-15 Et si on s’était trompé ? - Touring Exhibition, Curated by Nora Hickey M’Sichili, Director of Centre Culturel Irlandais, Book Published, Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, France, F.E Mc William Gallery & Studio, Banbridge, Northern Ireland, UK, Wexford Arts Centre, Wexford, Ireland, guest speaker French Ambassador Jean-Pierre Thebault , Leitrim Sculpture Centre, Manorhamilton, Ireland, West Cork Arts Centre, Skibbereen, Ireland