Ogham 2022

Catalyst Arts, Joys Entry, Belfast. February 22 – 31 March 2022

Ogham was an experiment in collaboration and reaction. Three artists, Stephanie Tanney, Brian Kielt, and myself, whose practices share a similar thread, but work in separate mediums, partook in a three week residency in Catalyst Arts gallery, to culminate in a presentation of work.

This project looked at the ways in which we might explore each other’s methods of practice to create new ways of developing and exhibiting work.

The residency was open to the public, who were invited to come along during the gallery opening hours to chat to the artists and interact with works in progress.

I was able to travel up for the residency at the start and at the end. During the rest of the residency I worked remotely, responding to daily prompts from Jen Alexander, the project curator, through drawings. Scroll to the end for a selection of these drawings.

I found this process of remote connection both challenging and rewarding- I built a connection with Brian and Stephanie and followed the development of their work each day through to each week. I wrote about this way of working here

Each of us plus Jen our Curator were interviewed by Rachel Botha, writer, as part of the conversations between us and her during the residency also. Read the interviews here.

Closing Night- This Is Not The End

The residency culminated in a show which was titled This Is Not The End, as a reference to how a show of work can be compared to a settling of the sands, before outside forces cause them to be moved again. I made a drawing on my first trip up to Belfast which I was unable to finish. Jen Alexander worked collaboratively with me to progress the drawing, and to develop it further thematically for the show. See images of this below.

For the closing night of Ogham I made a performance outside the gallery in Joys Entry. The performance was informed by the physical space of the alleyway, the recurring theme of This Is Not The End and my performance practice. I wrote about the performance from an anticipatory point of view here and then again, post event, 2 days later. See below for images and a short video documentation of the performance. Images courtesy of Brian Kielt, Stephanie Tanney, Jen Alexander and Emma Brennan.