Gloine-Líníochtaí - Glass Drawings
Gloine-Líníochtaí
Sandra Miley
Nuair a thugtar cuireadh d'ealaíontóir seal a chaitheamh ina (h)ealaíontóir cónaithe, is ionann é agus spás a chur ar leataobh do 'dheiseanna'. Sa chás áirithe seo, thug an Gailearaí cuireadh d'ealaíontóir as Baile Átha Cliath a theacht go Cloich Cheann Fhaola ar feadh cúig seachtaine agus an saothar a dhéanfadh sí i rith an ama sin a chur ar taispeántas ag deireadh an tréimhse.
Is ó Learpholl de Sandra ó dhúchas. Bhain sí céim amach sa Choláiste Ealáin i nDún Éideann sa bhliain 1989 agus bhog sí go Baile Átha Cliath sa bhliain 1994. Línitheoir oilte, is é gloine an meánábhar is rogha léi. I ndiaidh próisís fhada, cuireann sí an toradh a bhíonn ar a dearcadh faoi leith in iúl mar bhallaphíosa gloine. Ní hionann a ceird agus ceird an ghloine daite ar chor ar bith. Tá peirspicthíocht dá cuid féin ag Sandra chomh maith le modh iontach nua-aimseartha le é a léiriú.
I dtús báire, chuaigh Sandra ar fud fad an cheantair ar rothar agus, i ndáiríre, is é an rud a fheiceann tú ar taispeántas ná an rud a chonaic agus a mhothaigh sise le linn an turais sin. Is léir go raibh an-tionchar ag fairsingeacht ár dtaobh tíre agus na spéire anseo uirthi, spás atá neamhchosúil leis an chíneál timpeallachta a bhfuil sí cleachtaithe leis istigh i gceartlár Bhaile Átha Cliath. Breacann sí síos ina sceitleabhar iomlán na híomhaí, idir bheag agus mhór, a fheiceann sí agus a bhraitheann sí. Ansin, sa stiúideo, déanann sí dhá abhras a tharraingt in éineacht le chéile ó na sceitsí bunaidh sin. Is tuiscint bheacht ar an líne ceann de na cáilíochtaí is mó atá riachtanach do shaothar gloine den chineál seo, ní miste cé acu saothar traidisiúnta atá ann nó saothar nuálach, mar atá sa chás seo. Tá an líne, nó an líníocht i ndáiríre, lárnach do mhodh cruthaitheach Sandra. Shocraigh sí an scála a mhéadú agus cuid de na sceitsí bunaidh a fhorbairt, beart atá ina chuidiú le cuntas níos iomláine a thabhairt ar an mhéid a fheiceann sí chomh maith lenár n-aird a dhíriú air. Go minic, tá áilleacht shuntasach ag baint le marcanna beaga sa ghaineamh nó le mionbhogadach an fhéir ach de ghnáth bíonn muid ró-ghnóthach lena leithéid a thabhairt faoi deara, gan a bheith ag caint ar fiúntas ar bith a chur ina leith. Léiríonn an t-aistriú cliste a dhéanann Sanrda ar na móimintí seo cé chomh luachmhar is atá líníocht mar mheán.
Cruthaítear an saothar gloine trí eitseáil fhadalach le haigéad a dhéanamh ar dhromchlaí daite de leatháin gloine, modh a thugann marcanna soiléire chun solais. Ansin, cuireann Sandra na dathanna, na cruthanna agus na méideanna éagsúla ar bharr a chéile. Go bunúsach, tá sí ag tarraingt agus ag péinteáil le dath agus solas - agus is é an gloine a canbhás. "Is dath leachtach atá ann", a deir sí féin. Ciallaíonn seo nach bhfuil an pictiúr seasta nó cruánach agus go bhfuil gaol iontach láidir aige le solas. Tá dhá shaothar an-éifeachtach cruthaithe aici don taispeántas seo. Maidir leis an phíosa is lú, is cuntas atá ann ar chanach an tsléibhe; tá an dath iontach trom ach ag an am chéanna cuirtear in iúl an nádúr gearrshaolach foluaineach atá aige. Is píosa diamhair domhain é a léiríonn, dar liom, am - na cianta ama, aois áite, aois chultúir agus, b'fhéidir, an neamhbhuanacht atá iontu. Is 'scéal sraithe' dár dtírdhreach atá sa phíosa mhór. Léiríonn gach uile mhír áit ar leith nó coimriú ar áiteanna. Úsáideann Sandra an dath leachtach chun a cuid maracanna a fhágáil air agus laistigh de agus ar an dóigh sin cuireann sí cruthanna agus cuma an tírdhreach in iúl mar achoimre inbhraite. Fágann sin gur píosa gníomhach atá ann.
Chuir an tréimhse chónaithe seo deiseanna ar fáil don ealaíontóir agus don lucht féachana araon. Thug an timpeallacht úr seo faill don ealaíontóir a cuid teorainneacha féin a fhorbairt i slí nuálach, go teicniúil - an modh inar chuir sí a saothar i gcrích, agus an t-ábhar - roimhe seo is ón fhigiúr a fuair sí a hinspioráid. Agus fuair muidne, an lucht féachana, an deis leis na rudaí a chonaic sise a bhrath. Is físí atá i ngach uile ealaíontóir agus tá sé de dhualgas orthu a ngrinneas agus a dtuiscint a dhéanamh feiceálach dúinne. Nuair a thagann ealaíontóir le cónaí inár measc, ba chóir dúinn breith ar an áiméar agus radharc úr a fháil ar nithe trí shúile an ealaíontóra.
Úna Campbell - Meán Fómhair 2001
Glass Drawings
Sandra Miley
When an artist gets invited to be artist in residence for a while, it’s as if space is being provided for ‘opportunities’. In this particular case, An Gailearaí invited a Dublin artist to come and spend five weeks in Cloughaneely and to then exhibit the work created during that time.
Sandra hails from Liverpool. In 1989 she graduated from the Edinburgh College of Art and she moved to Dublin in 1994. A draughtswoman, glass is her preferred medium. Following a lengthy process, she presents the result of her deliberations as a glass wall piece. It would be wrong to compare her work to that of stained glass. Sandra has a unique perspective as well as a truly modern means of expressing it.
As a first step Sandra explored the locality by bike, and indeed what we get in her exhibited work is everything which has been seen and sensed by her during those trips. Clearly the spaciousness of our area with the open sky above had a big impact on her, a space very different to the environment to which she is used in the heart of Dublin. In her sketchbook she jots down the totality of what she both sees and feels in a particular object, no matter whether that object is large or little. Later in her studio she draws these two strands together from the original sketches. A clear understanding of outline is one of the essential qualities required for this type of glasswork, regardless of whether the work in question is traditional or - as is the case here - innovative. The outline, or rather the drawing is central to Sandra’s creative process. She opts to enlarge scale and to develop further aspects of the original sketches, all of which helps in giving an enhanced account of what she has seen, and draws our attention in to it. Very often, a particular beauty can be observed in faint little marks in the sand or in the gentle movements of the grass, but usually we are too preoccupied to even notice such things, yet alone value them. The manner in which Sandra expertly transposes these moments illustrates just how important a medium drawing is.
The glass work is the product of a long-drawn-out etching process involving acid being put on the coloured surface of a sheet of glass, a process which reveals certain distinct markings. Next Sandra places the dyes and the objects - which of various sizes and shapes - on top of each other. Basically, she is drawing and painting with both colour and light – and the glass is her canvas. “It’s liquid colour”, she says. The result is that the picture is neither permanent nor solid, and is dependent on light. For this exhibition she has created two very effective pieces. The smaller of the two depicts bog cotton; the colour is very strong while at the same time its ephemeral and fleeting aspects are highlighted. It is a profoundly mysterious piece and, in my view, a piece which illustrates ancientness – of plant, of place, of culture, and perhaps it also speaks of vulnerability. The large piece tells the ‘layered story’ of our landscape. Every bit illustrates a place or a syncopation of places. Sandra uses liquid colour in order to place her markings both on and within it, thereby portraying the many different shapes and the countenance of the landscape as a tangible snapshot. The result is a dynamic piece of art.
The time she spent here has been of benefit both to the artist herself and to the beholder. This new and invigorating environment allowed the artist to explore her own technical boundaries in a truly innovative way in terms of both subject and the manner in which she created her work – as prior to this her inspiration was drawn from the figure. And we, the onlookers, have been given the opportunity to perceive those things she has observed. Every artist is a visionary, whose responsibility it is to make that thing which has been observed and understood manifest for the rest of us. When an artist comes to live amongst us, we should seize the opportunity this provides to view afresh that which we have already seen, only this time through the eyes of the artist.