Untitled Document

I was born on the day Bobby Sands died in prison aged 27 after 66 days of hunger strike. The world I was born into was fraught with tension. Rural Donegal, where my parents settled, borders Northern Ireland and at the time was afflicted with 90% unemployment. Because of this my approach to my art practice is sensitive, open minded and aware of tragedy, injustice, isolation and loss and finding a way to deal with this and move forward. When I went to college my tutor had been working on a project with the families in Omagh after the bomb in 1998. Her project involved working in community groups processing the flowers left in tribute into hand-made paper. This initial experience of socially engaged practice stayed with me and the process-led way of working inspired me to make work that involved and/or responded to communities and individuals and I continue to use it to deal with complex and challenging emotions such as rejection, loss, change and to document time passing. The process involved gathering, defabricating, treating and then reforming. This is also the way that I approach projects, through research, analysis, reaction and making. It is important for me to work with other people, artists and communities. Conversations inspire and challenge the work I make. It is important for me to share ownership of my work because I believe that humans are not meant to be isolated and therefore nothing can be achieved alone without the support and/or assistance of others.