ARTISTS STATEMENT SEPTEMBER 2013

ARTISTS STATEMENT
ROSELYN CLEARY

I am working on the idea of memory and identity but in a more expanded view investigating the notion of absence and presence, of time passing by, using my home place and environs and focusing primarily on my father.
Objects, personal possessions, buildings and the landscape all hold and trigger memories and so I incorporate these in my work.
I work with wood and mixed materials and also I am expanding my experimentation by using clothing and fabrics. i.e. embossments from items of clothing.
Having completed a course on 3d Printing I am also interested in looking at traditional/digital forms of production and perhaps experimenting with a hybrid of wood/plastic…expanding on my wood turned objects.
I want to strengthen my skills in printmaking, photography, film and drawing while showing significant experimentation using a variety of materials.
I am trying to communicate a sense of nostalgia, time passing by. I want to show my connection with my father through the use of certain processes and materials. I want to capture the human presence that once gave a place and objects meaning and elevate these things people never thought about back to this meaningful level. I want the viewer to associate facets of their past or present time with my work.
My objective is to create a strong body of work that effectively communicates my concept.

My current work includes:

Research:
The work of other artists is a very important component in my research methodology. Reading about their work, looking at their work and understanding their ideas all influence how I approach my own work.
Throughout the years I have encountered many inspiring artists and lately a number of new ones have been introduced to me.
Library books, magazines, online databases, websites, gallery visits, exhibitions have all given me access other artist’s work.

Artists I have recently been looking at:
• Louise Bourgeois
• Amelia Stein
• Christian Boltanski
• Miyako Ishiuch
• Anselm Kiefer
• Elizabeth le Court
• Tracy Emin
• Kevin Cosgrave
• Patrick O Reilly
• Mona Hatoum
• Daphne Wright
• Sophie Calle
• Jim Dine
• Susan Hiller

Artists I saw at the Venice Biennale who I greatly admired:
• Richard Mosse- Irish Pavilion.
• Antti Laitinen who represented Finland with Forest Square.
• Sarah Ste- American Pavilion
• Antoni Tapies.

I am also reading the poetry of Seamus Heaney and looking at other texts, for example, Making Memory Matter: Strategies of Remembrance in Contemporary Art by Lisa Saltzman.
Barthes idea on the ‘That has Been’ which is connected with analogue photography and the idea that a light from a person can touch the surface of the film which in turn creates a thread of physical touch within the analogue process.

Printmaking:
Etching based on imagery of objects from my home place.
Photo Etching
Screen Printing
Dry Point
Experimentation where I have worked back into my prints

Photography:

Analogue and Digital Photography.
 Experimentation using a Diana F+, Sprocket Rocket, Polaroid and Medium Format camera.
Dark Room development.
Digital Photography using a Canon 450D for outside and home shots and Nikon Camera in photography studio.
Experimentation scratching back into printed images and old negatives.

Drawing:
Black and White pen and Indian ink drawings, based on my photography.

Woodwork:
Woodturning objects
Making a replica of a handrail in which my father made as a boy.

Lens based media and Film work:
I am currently working on creating a time-lapse sequence using digital based photos of my fathers watch ticking. Based on the idea of time passing but yet not just my time or my fathers time but a universal time.


I am trying to communicate a sense of nostalgia, time passing by. I want to show my connection with my father through the use of certain processes and materials. I want to capture the human presence that once gave a place and objects meaning and elevate these things people never thought about back to this meaningful level. I want the viewer to associate facets of their past or present time with my work.

My objective is to create a strong body of work that effectively communicates my concept. I want to strengthen my skills in printmaking, photography, film and drawing while showing significant experimentation using a variety of materials.