Ó Dorchadas go Solas - From Darkness to Light
Ó Dorchadas go Solas
Oona Hyland, Kevin McGee, Katherine Nixon, Mark Clare
Is é An Gailearaí a thionscain agus a dhéanann comhordú ar an taispeántas ‘Dorchadas go Solas’. Roghnaíodh beirt ealaíontóir áitiúil agus beirt ealaíontóir ó oirthear na tíre, duine ó Bhéal Feirste agus duine ó Bhaile Átha Cliath, le bheith rannpháirteach sa taispeántas seo. Is í an treoir a tugadh dóibh ná taithí an ‘dorchadais’ (an geimhreadh) agus an ‘t-solais’ ( an samhradh) a chur in iúl go feiceálach trí fiosrú a dhéanamh ar shamhailchomharthaí agus ar shuíomhanna miotaseolaíocha Bhaloir agus Lúgh. De réir an bhéaloidis, bhí a dhún ag Balor ar na beanna ar an taobh thoir d’Oileán Thoraí agus mharaigh Lúgh a athair mór, Balor, sa ghleann i nDún Lúiche. Chaith an grúpa seachtain istigh i dToraigh ag Samhain (teacht an dorchadais) agus seachtain eile i nDún Lúiche san Earrach (teacht an t-solais, nó cónocht an earraigh).
Bhí sé mar aidhm ag an Ghailearaí an téama seo a dhéanamh comhaimseartha agus ar an tséala sin, roghnaíodh ealaíontóirí ó réimse éagsúil disciplín agus cleachtais. Ba mhaith linn a dhéanamh cinnte go mbeadh an taispeántas ilthoiseach agus go mbeadh éagsúlacht peirspictíochta le tabhairt faoi deara ann. Is mór an chlú do na healaíontóirí uilig, gach duine ina d(h)óigh féin, go ndearna siad síniú amach ar na teorainneacha ón treoir bhunaidh, agus gur chuir siad os ár gcomhair léirmhínithe nuálacha agus comhaimseartha. Tá gach ealaíontóir ag cur i láthair saothar a chuaigh fríd próiseas. Athraíodh i slí éigin na hábhair a roghnaigh gach duine acu, ag dul ó fhoirm amháin go dtí ceann eile agus, corr uair, tá an trasdul seo le feiceáil go soiléir. Ní dhearna na healaíontóirí seo athrá nó athchóiriú ar na finscéalta, sheachain siad a leithéid sin agus léiríonn an taispeántas seo an chuid is géarchúisí de pheirspictíocht dhéantáin chomh maith le peirspictíocht ealaíonta. Ón ‘Réamhstairiúil’ go dtí an ‘Iar Nua-aoiseach’ agus ón ‘Dorchadas go dtí an Solas’.
Ba mhaith linn buíochas a thabhairt d’Údarás na Gaeltachta ar shon an maoiniú a chuir siad ar fáil don tionscadal seo agus go háirithe ar shon a ndáiríreacht agus a dtacaíocht do na dearcealaíona comhaimseartha inár gceantar.
Úna Campbell
Oona Hyland
Baineann mo shaothar don taispeántas seo le solas agus creimeadh
Is foirm staire atá san eitseáil, déantar an solas a theilgean agus déantar an íomhá fríd na plátaí creimthe.
Tá na rilífeanna poircealláin sioctha; bomaití scartha leo féin i gcúl glaice, tugann siad foirm inbhraite do rud éigin rúnda ceilte.
Tá spéis agam san ealáin filíochta atá ag na hábhair seo agus ag solas mar chumhacht insonraithe.
Kevin McGee
Seo oibreacha a chuireann síos ar an dul chun tosaigh ón chúram léiriúcháin atá leis an fíor déthoiseach go dtí an dul i ngleic le disciplín na dealbhadóireachta de réir a chéile. Cé go bhfuil a bpoinnte tagartha go fóill sa dromchla cothrom, cuimsíonn siad gnéithe sínteachta atá tagtha air. Tá siad mar iompróirí agus mar athneartú ar na struchtúir a bhí ann go dtí seo.
Katherine Nixon
Is rud sealbhach é, chóir a bheith. Caithfidh mé cruth agus dath a ghlacadh chugam féin, úinéireacht a ghlacadh orthu, agus iad a chur fríd mo lámha agus mo chóras féin. Is rud é a dtéim sa seans leis. Lagaíonn caint é; thig leis an phróiseas é a mhilleadh. Tá na hábhair iontach daonna agus tugtha do strus. Fiú nuair a shroicheann sé an solas, caithfear amharc ar an saothar le beocht a chur ann.
Ón uair a fuair sí a cuid cáilíochtaí amach sa bhliain 1999, dhírigh Katherine Nixon a haird ar fhéidearthachtaí ealaíne an ghloine a fhiosrú agus chuidigh sí é a fhorbairt i dTuaisceart Éireann mar mheán bríomhar. Bhí sí ar dhuine de na daoine a toghadh le bheith ina n-iondaithe d’Éirinn ag an seó idirnáisiúnta Salon 2000 i bPáras, i Lucsamburg agus i dTóiceo, faoi choinne ealaíontóirí a bhí ag teacht chun cinn nó a raibh ainm acu cheana féin. Sa taispeántas Dorchadas go Solas, tugann an chumhacht optúil agus teasfhulangach atá ag criostal luaidhe athchúrsáilte deis don ealaíontóir foirm a fhuaidriú agus solas a chlaochlú agus a láimhseáil.
Mark Clare
Nuair a bhí muid ag toiseacht ar an tionscadal seo, Dorchadas go Solas, tugadh dornán scéalta miotaseolaíocha dúinn a bhfuil baint acu leis an taobh seo tíre.
I ndiaidh domh cuairt a thabhairt ar chuid de na háiteacha a raibh tagairt déanta dóibh sna scéalta sin, chuaigh mé i gceann saothair nua a bhí bunaithe ar an mhiotaseolaíocht seo. Mhothaigh mé go rabhthas a mo tharraingt isteach, diaidh ar ndiaidh, sa tírdhreach seo os mo chomhair agus mhothaigh mé an chumhacht dhúisitheach a bhí sna tírdhreacha difriúla seo. Is ansin a thuig mé gurb ionann an tírdhreach agus an miotaseolaíocht.
Dá thairbhe sin, rinne mé iarracht cuid den chumhacht sin a léiriú sa saothar atá curtha le chéile agam don taispeántas seo, saothar atá déthoiseach agus tríthoiseach. Bhí an obair iontach crua.
Sa saothar déthoiseach, bhain mé úsáid as teicníocht atá úr-nua i mo mhodh oibre. Trí úsáid a bhaint as íomhaí ghrianghrafadóireachta a ndearnadh athchóiriú orthu i Photoshop agus ansin a priontáladh ar chanbhás agus a síneadh ar an dóigh chéanna mar a déantar le canbhas traidisiúnta, rinne mé iad a oibriú ón bharr.
Maidir leis an saothar tríthoiseach, rinne mé trí bhulla iascaireachta a mhúnlú i gcré-umha – acra coitianta oibre a ghlacadh agus a thiontú isteach ina rud luachmhar, píosa iarsmalainne a chruthaíonn a mhiotaseolaíocht féin.
From Darkness to Light
Oona Hyland, Kevin McGee, Katherine Nixon, Mark Clare
‘Ó Dhorchadas go Solas: From Darkness into Light’ was initiated and co-ordinated by An Gailearaí. Two local artists and two others from the east of the island – one each from Belfast and Dublin - were selected to participate in this exhibition. Their remit was to present their experiences with darkness (winter) and with light (summer) through investigating the various symbols and mythological sites associated with Balor and with Lugh. Oral tradition informs us that Balor had his fortress on the lofty cliffs at the eastern end of Tory Island, and that he was killed by his grandson, Lugh, in the glen at Dunlewey on the mainland. The group spent a week on Tory around Hallowe’en (the arrival of darkness), and another week in Dunlewey in springtime (the coming of light, the time of the spring equinox).
An Gailearaí’s intention was to contemporise this theme and, with that in mind, artists from different disciplines and practices were chosen. We were anxious for this to be a multi-dimensional exhibition, in which different perspectives could be discerned. It is of great credit to the artists that each in their own way pushed out the limits of the original remit, the result of which presented us with innovative and contemporary interpretations. What each artist presents here is the result of a process. The subjects chosen by each one underwent some change or other, altering from one form to a different one, and sometimes this progression is quite obvious. No artist repeated or rearranged the ancient myths, they in fact avoided doing that, and this exhibition shows the most astute aspects of artefact perspective as well as artistic perspective. From the prehistoric to the postmodern, ‘from the Darkness to the Light’.
I would like to thank Údarás na Gaeltachta for the funding they provided to this project, and in particular for the enthusiastic manner in which they support the contemporary visual arts in our locality.
Úna Campbell
Oona Hyland
My work for this exhibition deals with light and erosion.
Etching is a form of history where light is cast and the image is created through the eroded plates.
The porcelain reliefs are frozen; isolated moments in the hollow of the hand give tangible form to something which has been hidden.
I am interested in the poetic art which these objects possess, where the light is a perceptible force.
Kevin McGee
These are works which describe the progression from the insightful representation of the two-dimensional outline to gradual engagement with the discipline of sculpture. Although their points of reference remain on the even surface, they include the synthetic aspects which have been acquired by it.
They act as both carrier and re-enforcement for the structures which had existed up to this.
Katherine Nixon
It’s a consuming thing, almost. I have to acquire shape and colour, take ownership of them, allow them to flow through my hands, through my whole system. It’s something I experiment with. Speech weakens it; it can destroy the process. The subjects are extremely human, and prone to stress. Even when it is brought into the light, the work must be observed in order to live.
Since graduating in 1999, Katherine Nixon focussed her attention on exploring the artistic potential of glass and she helped develop it as a vibrant medium in Northern Ireland. She was amongst those selected to represent Ireland at the international Salon 2000 show in Paris, Luxemburg and in Tokyo, for upcoming or established artists. In this ‘Ó Dhorchadas go Solas: Darkness into Light’ exhibition the optical and refractory power of recycled crystal lead provides the artist with the opportunity to suspend form and to alter and manipulate light.
Mark Clare
As we set out upon this project ‘Ó Dhorchadas go Solas: Darkness into Light’ we were provided with a handful of myths all of which are associated with this area.
After I visited some of the locations referred to in those stories, I set about creating a new work which was based on this mythology. I felt as if I was gradually being drawn into this landscape in front of me, and I felt the evocative power which was in these different landscapes. It was then that I realised that landscape and mythology were one and the same thing. And so, I attempted to illustrate some of that power in the work which I have assembled for this exhibition, work which is both two-dimensional and three-dimensional. It was tough work.
In the two-dimensional work I used up to the minute technology in my work method. In using photographic images which had been altered by means of Photoshop and which were then printed on canvas which was stretched in the traditional manner, I set about working them from the top down.
As for the three-dimensional work, I cast three fishing buoys in bronze – taking a normal everyday implement and turning it into something valuable, a museum artefact which creates its own mythology.