To Sweden and back again.

A few things have happened since I last updated this blog. First of all I received a bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland, which I’m delighted about. Part of my proposal was that I would go to Sweden and do research for a new body of work, and shoot Super 8. So, soon after finding out about the bursary I booked a flight to Sweden and spent three weeks there.

lake

I travelled around to different villages scattered around the countryside where a mine, mill or factory has more or less been the sole employer of each community. As said companies have either down scaled or closed down the villages have changed in character and some are now almost deserted. I am interested in failed utopias, deserted places, the uneasy, tentative feeling of a place where things are more or less intact but have been left to deteriorate. I like the contrast between Utopias and Dystopias, the landscape and the built enviroment, the old and the new, hope and despair. I found a village with a deserted street of ten 1950’s style detached houses. That was my most successful find. People may draw parallels to the situation Ireland is in right now where the recession and banking crisis has resulted in many empty newly built estates.

Bona
Bona, two kilometres from my parents’ farm. The buildings have acted in turn as a reformatory for boys, a mental asylum and a refugee hotel. Now they are empty.

I have a lot of research material to process, and I’m feeling very inspired! I also have to send off my Super 8 films for developing to see how they turn out.

woods
Shooting Super 8.

Apart from doing research I also had time to go to Stockholm for three days. I stayed with my good friend Sofia and visited her lovely vintage shop ‘Drakens Källare’ (The dragon’s cellar) in the Old Town. I went to the Museum of Modern art, Magasin 3 Stockholm konsthall and Galleri Magnus Karlsson as well and met up with my other friend Ragnhild.

sthlm
Södermalm, Stockholm.

I gave a talk about my art, studying abroad and working in the Galway Tourist office at my old secondary school in Vadstena, which was fun and met up with several friends, relations and neighbours, so I got to meet a lot of people I hadn’t seen for a long time.

The weather was great for the most part of my trip and the leaves were bright yellow, so I hope the colours come out well on the Super 8. I have to say I’m very pleased with the past three weeks.

I arrived back in Galway last night and today I was thrown straight into the preparations for the Tulca season of visual art. Six artists from Engage studios, me included, have been selected by curator Michelle Browne to exhibit in a new space on merchant’s road called Niland Gallery.

tunnel

I’ve made a video piece called “Travelling through” where I’m showing an alternative route out to Mutton island off the Galway coast through the causeway, as opposed to walking on it. It’s a stop motion piece that I got completed just before I went off to Sweden and it’s going to be projected on the wall. It was very painstaking to make, and involved me crawling the distance of 1km through the causeway, taking photos as I went along. I really love the exhibition space and am excited to see it all come together in the next couple of days.

Tulca (which means wave in Irish) will run from the 6th – 21st November with exhibitions, performances and lectures all over the city.