This article is from page 33 of the 2008-04-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 33 JPG
LIGHT, darkness and all the (lumi- nous) grey areas in between form the driving thematic forces behind this year’s Masters Of Fine Art Exhibi- tion at the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan.
The exhibition, which is entitled ‘Quiet Dark Bonkers’, opened over the weekend and features the work of graduating Masters students Pam O’Connell, Aoife Cassidy and Cas- sandra Dorer.
“My focus in this exhibition is darkness in art. When I came to the Burren originally I was focusing on
brightness and happy paintings. But when I had my tutorials, my tutors used to say that my work wasn’t re- ally very happy at all. I disagreed with them and, instead of knocking it, I started to explore the darker side in art,’ said Pam O’Connell.
“T work in a diverse range of medi- ums. I am working firstly with clay and from the clay comes the paint- ings and the photographs. So there is a connection and a progression through the pieces.”
Pam, Aoife and Cassandra are the only Masters of Fine Arts Students that will graduate in Ireland, outside of Dublin, this year.
“Like Pam, I am quite drawn to the darker side, but I use a lot of humour as well. So I use a lot of glitter and fluorescence and childlike materials, so you wouldn’t know straight away exactly what the work is about,” said Aoife Cassidy.
“The work is really a homage to people who suffer from mental ill- ness. In this exhibition, I am really trying to push my own limitations and the audience’s limitations. For example, I have one room, I call it the Bird Hide, and I’m hoping to invoke the feeling of panic.”
Cassandra Dorer said, ““My work is nearly the opposite of the other two.
I am looking to create a quiet area of stillness with the idea that people can reflect on their own thoughts.
“The painting are based loosely on the landscape but there is little or no definite imagery in them. So a lot of it is based on colour as an emo- tive force. I think that the landscape here plays a big part in the work, the feeling or sense of spirituality in this area and in the west of Ireland as a whole.”
The exhibition will run daily until JDuCCl \Avate ul mene
To view some images from the exhibition, turn to page 45 of Clare- LIFE.