REVIEWS

IRISH TIMES & BILLION JOURNAL

THE IRISH TIMES ART CRITIC AIDAN DUNNE DESCRIBES THE WORK AS IF '... IT PRESENTS ITSELF AS A PAIR OF SOLID, RIGHT-ANGLED WALLS BUILT FROM PACKING CRATES AND VARIOUS DOMESTIC OBJECTS. SHE HAD IN MIND THE SELF-STORAGE DEPOTS THAT HAVE BECOME A PART OF MODERN LIFE. GO INTO THE SPACE AND YOU FIND YOURSELF LISTENING TO FOUR SHORT AUDIO NARRATIVES. THEY SHARE THE IDEA OF SOMEONE WHO IS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING THAT, FOR WHATEVER REASON, CANNOT BE FOUND'. (THE IRISH TIMES 10TH OF JULY 2015).

‘ THE NARRATORS SHARE TALES WHICH MEMORIES ARE RETOLD WITH PERSONAL JOY BUT ENOUGH DISTANCE FOR US TO ENTER AND EMPHASIZE. WHAT COMES ACROSS MOST STRONGLY IS THE LOSS OF NOSTALGIA THROUGH CULTURAL DISPLACEMENT. THOSE LOST MEMORIES UNLOCKED IN THE MNEMONIC POSSESSIONS AND LANDSCAPES OF OUR CHILDHOOD. POSSESSIONS THAT INFORMS US DAILY TO WHO, WE ARE, MOVING?’ BILLIONJOURNAL BILLIONJOURNAL, JAMES MERRIGAN, VIDEO REVIEW DEGREE SHOWS 2015.

PRESS RELEASE

'THE WALLPAPER IN THE BEDROOM WAS WHITE WITH FADED ROSES IN A SORT OF PATTERN. AND I REMEMBER THAT YOU COULD LOOK AT THESE ROSES IN A WAY SO THAT THEY LOOKED LIKE RABBITS. AND I USED TO LIE THERE AND TALK TO THE RABBITS OUT LOUD. I IMAGINED THAT THE RABBITS WERE DIFFERENT CHARACTERS OUT OF BOOKS I HAD READ. SO IN A WAY THEY BECAME ALIVE IN MY HEAD SO I COULD TALK TO THEM. AND THEN, THE CHARACTERS CAME TO BE PART OF MYSELF' (EXCERPT FROM AUDIO SCRIPT).

THE BORDER OF THE SPACE IS MARKED WITH MASKING TAPE OUTLINING A RESTRICTED AREA OF AN IMAGINED STORAGE UNIT. PART OF THE INSTALLATION IS STRUCTURED AS A ‘WALL’ ASSEMBLED BY MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS AND BELONGINGS. ON THE OTHER SIDE A MORE INTIMATE AND DARKER LIT SPACE CAN BE FOUND. FOUR AUDIO-NARRATIVES TOLD BY THREE FOREIGN WOMEN CAN BE HEARD THROUGH THE SCULPTURE. THESE STORIES ARE FRAGMENTED BUT CONTRIBUTE TO A LARGER NARRATIVE THAT UNRAVELS BY DISCOVERING THE STORAGE UNIT ITSELF.