"Refigure" Exhibition

Refigure is a collaborative exhibition by nine final year students of Fine Art in Dublin Institute of Technology. Meaning ‘to figure again, or anew,’ the show is curated around the title theme, extending an invitation to the viewer to consider the importance of their own role in the artistic process. The works on display encompass a wide range of disciplines, varying from painting to sculpture, to video, to print and more, yet they are united by a common purpose, to refigure the audience’s perception in some way. Some pieces challenge the misconceptions surrounding social taboos, particularly mental illness, and aim to invoke new understanding and empathy from the viewer. Other works demand a more physical form of interaction from the viewer in order to be experienced, creating an awareness in the audience of their role through active participation. More passively engaging artworks provide contrast to this, presenting the articulated thoughts and memories of the artist for the viewer to contemplate from the context of their own perspective. Ultimately, Refigure aims to highlight the importance of the relationship between the artist and the viewer and draw attention to the refiguration that occurs to an artwork once the artist has inevitably renounced control

Refigure is part one of four of the ‘Mini-Exhibition’ project.

Sarah Murphy, Kat 1 of 3, Video Installation

My work is concerning the impact of emotional or psychological trauma, in particular the trauma of women, which includes domestic violence, rape, sexual assault,physical and verbal abuse. Following my own theory that all people have experienced trauma in their life, I want to force the viewer to empathise with the victim and remind them of emotional traumas, by reflecting the emotions of the victims onto the viewer. As part of my research I am conversing with women who have experienced emotional trauma in their lives and are willing to share their experience.I have invited the women to write their experience in their own words and send it to me. Through the medium of video, I use the information form these stories to make conceptual films to represent the trauma.

Sarah Murphy, Kat

Natalia Tysiak, Thoroughfare, Spot light projection on glicée print.

Natalia Tysiak’s current body of work has been inspired by the technologies ofmemory, particularly exploration of memory as oppositions of presence/absence and fiction/reality. Although artistic practice remained set within printmaking practice, Natalia applies multi-media methods to produce a finished image. Thoroughfare is a proposed view of a point in time, where the transition of reality into a memory occurs, where time is of ambiguous setting, tangible truth is displaced and becomes a memento. An intricate glimpse of co-existence of, both, presence and absence. Ephemeral in nature, challenges notion of remembrance, and suggests duality of time- time as shared moment (present), and time as individual memento(eternal). Collision of which, is described by intimacy, that promotes a dialogue on the inner perception of time of a memory. Light directed onto the print in secretive manner, is an exclusive-like possibility for the viewer to peek at the artist’s private experience of time.

Natalia Tysiak, Throughfare

Linda Byrne, I pulled myself back together, but I fell apart again, Fabriano Paper

The serious issue of the perception of mental illness, in particular depression, is the focus of my work. The stigma which surrounds this medical illness is still prevalent in Irish society today. The personal torment and heavy burden of this disease on its sufferers is a serious cause for concern. According to the nation report “Suicide In Ireland,” one of out of every seven sufferers of depression will commit suicide,

accounting for 42% of all suicides in the country. Astonishingly suicide accounts for more deaths per year in Ireland than road traffic accidents, yet people know little about this or of the underlying disease which leads to suicide. Through my work, I hope to create understanding of depression, understanding for the viewer and understanding for the people who are unfamiliar with this illness. I believe that this stigma needs to be addressed; creating a dialogue through empathy may lift some of the perception surrounding this illness.

Linda Byrne, I Pulled Myself Togther But I Fell Apart Again

 

Claire McCluskey, The Place Where Different Places Meet, Installation (thread, nails, glue, light)

Claire McCluskey’s work currently observes the nature of autonomy and separateness, with the aim of drawing attention to the paradoxical nature of this state. Just as ‘no man is an island,’ nothing can exist without its context, therefore there is no such thing, really, as pure autonomy. This piece, constructed from thread, is composed of two sides, a right set and a left set of threads, that meet in the middle. Each side supports its opposite, creating a line of consecutive meeting points, creating a virtual “place” where the two sides meet. Without the threads on either side supporting those opposite, the whole construction would fall, or not exist at all. Created specifically for the Refigure exhibition, this piece aims to reflect the nature of the show, the connection between artist and audience; that art cannot be made without being observed, and vice versa. The exhibition itself is the place

where these opposite entities support each other.

Claire McCluskey, The Place Where Different Places Meet

 Doug Barrett, Information Pending, Acrylic on Wood

The interaction which takes place when the viewer is met with this work takes place in two separate forms. The first is visual and the second virtual. Technological communication has become intrinsic to human nature and this work demonstrates a reliance on technology to deconstruct basic information. Without the necessary technology such basic information, in this case, the news is restricted. Information and interpretation are being explored through this work but also the restrictions of particular information. The arrangement of colour plays with this notion; that information being received is then perceived through visual communication to appear as an American flag.

Doug Barrett, Information Pending

Eimear Marie, 1. Distorting, 2. Fading away, Glass paint on plates.

I use art and the gallery space as a platform for dealing with serious topic of mental illness, in particular eating disorders. Statistics show that in Ireland there are 400 new diagnoses annually, with approximately 80 people each year dying from illness either through organ failure, severe malnutrition, cardiac arrest, related suicide or other related complications. And these figures are thought to be a fraction of the actual figures. The reason for this is that it is thought that there are no reliable statistics on this illness. With many sufferers never diagnosed for fear of being shamed. You see there is a stigma attached to this illness in the present day Irish Society today. My hope is that when the viewer encounters the work based on the personal stories, and reads the personal stories accompanying the work, they refigure their perception of what eating disorders are and those affected by them. Using the personal stories of sufferers in hope that by displaying these, the viewer will be able to empathise and come to the realisation that living with an eating disorder is not a choice, not vanity but a serious disease, often developed as a result of a trauma. And that it is an illness that affects those from all different classes of society, all races, ages and both genders.

Eimear Marie, 1.Distorting, 2 Fading Away.

 Meilan Cheung, Dragon Among Flowers, Ink on Paper, 1.

The main themes of my artwork are dragon figures and floral patterns. I use Dragon not only because 2012 is the lunar year of the Dragon, it is a memory from my childhood. I remember my father who once painted a Chinese Dragon for my brother. The vivid memory of that painting still stays with me. The floral pattern of the “Peony” reminds me the prints on the curtains, bedding, pyjamas, and kitchen towels in my childhood home. In Chinese culture, “Peony” symbolizes “Fortune and Wealth”. That is why my mother used these patterns around the house often. The Dragon also represents the highest power. It has been known as the symbol of Imperial power for three thousand years in China. The Dragon is still known as the symbol of luck, prosperity, and auspiciousness since the fall of the imperial ruler in 1911. The works of Michael Lin’s repeated floral patterned wall installations has influenced me, as well as Lily van der Stokker’s three-dimensional wall paintings. In addition, Henri Matisse in his cut out shape world, he made his “The Fabric of Dream” in small-scale. They gave me the creative inspiration that I have now and hope to carry onto my future development goals.

Meilan Cheug, Dragon Amoung Flowers

Carmel Mannion, Touch It, Oil, water, plastic

Carmel Mannion’s work aims to engage the audience in a playful state of participation in order to demonstrate the necessity of the presence of the audience for the ongoing life of the artwork. Her works are open-ended creations, never reaching completion, but persisting in a constant state of refiguration by the audience. This piece explores the ever changing dynamic between oil and water/artist and audience; elements that can never be mixed yet remain in a state of interdependency as they are equally integral to the production of art.

Carmel Mannion, Touch It

Mason McMillen, Untitled (Behind the Work), Acrylic, charcoal, on canvas, mixed media

This piece attempts to act as a playful commentary of the relationship between visual and conceptual elements. By extending the work past the limits of the canvas, the work in its entirety uses the object as a façade, a distraction. The concealed section of the standing figure on the wall, hidden by the object, becomes an idea of visceral curiosity. The image of the back of a figure is closely associated with the front of the face especially that of the corresponding figure. However, what lies‘behind’ the presented façade, in relation to the viewer, exists in an obscured reality, paradoxically existing and not existing. In this sense, the viewer’s curiosity and assumption embody the work, justifying its humorous visual appearance. Those inquisitive enough to peek behind the canvas confirm this idea of curiosity, by breaking a certain taboo of direct physical interaction in painting.

Mason McMillen, Untitled (Behind The Work)

Publication author: Claire McClusky