Welcome to my blog, thank you so much for taking the time to read my words.
This blog is currently completely free, there are ways to support me to make my work but this piece of work is about collecting the process of making my new show and collating the research. The development of this piece has lead me to old books and new, some talk about the significance of the selkie, others discuss Irish mythology, understanding the Irish language and how it connects us to our land. All to say, I have a greater appreciation of this powerful little island that I was lucky to be born onto.
The concept of perspective was the initial seed that I was exploring, I am fascinated by the lens that modern media spins on the same story and how the media we choose further informs our biases. We all hold a perspective that is determined by our upbringing, societal systems, culture, ability, gender, sexuality and the list is really endless. In my initial creative brainstorming of this piece, I took this piece in a contemporary political direction and commissioned the drawing below.
I was engaging with political views and reading wonderful books including, the Burden of Heritage by Aileen Alleyne, Invisible Women by Caroline Criado-Perez and The Myth of Normal by Gabor Mate.
However, 2023 involved a lot of travelling for work for the aerial dance company Fidget Feet, on their production, House. Hence, spent a lot of time in Cashel, Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo. I spent a lot of time travelling Ireland, I feel that I definitely drove the coast of it 30 odd times this year. The piece really took root in Leitrim where I was generously hosted by wonderful artist friends and stayed in a gorgeous cabin in the wilds, I encountered a piece of work by a local artist Edwina Guckian. Amach: Into the Field.
I encourage you to look at more of her work here - https://www.edwinaguckian.com/
The piece was an installation of 21 doors in townlands (townlands are areas based on old Irish land divisions, many of which existed before the arrival of the English language) across Leitrim. On each was a door with a phone number written and if you rang the number you heard stories of Leitrim, the myths associated with the land and how relevant the myths still are to us now. From this, the seed of inspiration was planted and many new things have grown.
In 2023 I began reconnecting with my circus practice and developing my connection to Ireland and the Irish language, the word for 2024 is patience. Patience as I reconnect with my physical practice, patience as I learn my language and patience as I embark on a massive project with many facets to create something huge and wonderful.
Comments