Object Nature

The site-specific nature of my work examines the relationship between materials and how they fit within a defined space. Light, form, line, and scale are fundamental to this exploration. A strong interest in architecture leads me to routinely source mass-produced, industrially fabricated materials that are readily found the in the built environment: bricks, wire, glass, plastic, wood, metal, etc. The rearranging and juxtaposing of everyday objects, taken out of their original context, can allow for a subtle ‘play’ between the materials often resulting in an ephemeral quality that invests new significance in the objects beyond their primary purpose and questions our ascribing of meaning to object and place.

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On show at the IADT Graduate Exhibition 2009, Visual Arts Practice

IADT, Kill Avenue, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, T: + 353 1 2394600

Suspended Process

Through the process of capillary action water is drawn from a plastic suspended container through a J-Cloth and drips on to a sheet of plate glass (suspended at the corners by wire). The accumulation of water eventually spills from the glass and is absorbed by finishing plaster laid out in the floor below. Depending on the humidity the process takes about 30 hours to complete.

There are long pauses between each drop and there is a noticeable contrast between the subtle splash of water on the glass and the silent 'thud' as the drops vanish in to the plaster. An ever increasing cavity is created in the plaster throughout the duration of the process and if left indefinitely would be, along with some slight staining on the glass, the only physical evidence of a process having taken place.

Abstract Environment

This work attempts to challenge our perception of what we see and understand to be true. Our understanding of our environment is based on the information gathered through our senses and our ability to process that information. Photographs of our built environment become abstracted when any recognisable context is removed from the image. The original ‘reality’ of the objects in the image is transformed and given new meaning which is open to varied readings depending on the cultural background end education of the viewer.