Midland Arts and Culture Magazine - Register.ie
Midland Arts and Culture Magazine - Register.ie
Midland Arts and Culture Magazine - Register.ie
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LE CHÉILE12Collective remembers residencyAnna Duffy <strong>and</strong> Ann Wingf<strong>ie</strong>ldA testimony from four Westmeath <strong>and</strong> Roscommon-based visual artists of a week long residency in Spring 2012,at the renowned creative arts retreat, Tyrone Guthr<strong>ie</strong> Centre, County Monaghan : Siobhan Cox-Carlos, Anna Susay-Duffy, Lorraine Mimnagh <strong>and</strong> Ann Wingf<strong>ie</strong>ld rekindle images of their exper<strong>ie</strong>nce.“The opportunity to find oneselfnear the aptly named village ofNewbliss, on the shores of LakeAnnaghmakerrig, Co Monaghan isblessing enough, but for four midl<strong>and</strong>basedartists to be in situ at the sametime was too valuable an opportunity tomiss.Over a couple of dinner chats <strong>and</strong> plentyof humorous banter, we found ourselvesby c<strong>and</strong>lelight at the dining table aboutto embark upon experimental portraiturephotography, not unduly influenced byspooky tales of past hauntings <strong>and</strong> OldMasters paintings!Our nightly fervour wasn’t long incaptivating several more residents ofother creative disciplines <strong>and</strong> a mini-epicphoto shoot project ensued, the resultingportraits of which soon became the‘must have’ Residency memento ofmany.Having found such synergy, a seed ofthought was sown, to present ourcreative thoughts <strong>and</strong> concepts as acollaborative group, becoming a realityas we stepped out of the shadows <strong>and</strong>onto the page.Progressing individual personal practicethrough evaluation <strong>and</strong> critique is thenorm but collaboration was uncharteredterritory for some of this group. With thisin mind, we chose a format ofcollaborative work that would suit eachof our schedules <strong>and</strong> directive enough tobe ach<strong>ie</strong>vable. Our daily meeting placewould be neutral ground in theCconservatory at four bells! And ofcourse, a pot of tea to keep out thecold! Roll out the critique!The short 10-minute art br<strong>ie</strong>f that weeach assigned the others in dailyrotation, sometimes consisting of onlyone word, was intended to evoke aninstant response to our location.Moments encapsulated like snapshotson small scale pages which weredeliberately chosen to convey a senseof intimacy with both materials <strong>and</strong>subject.Naturally not everyone’s exper<strong>ie</strong>nce onany one day is the same, <strong>and</strong> as visualartists know, a day’s painting canpresent plenty of highs <strong>and</strong> lows, thus,moods <strong>and</strong> choices were certainlyreflected in the end p<strong>ie</strong>ces, oftenraising a laugh to combat a frustratedfrown!We were delighted to include thisproject in our end of residencyexhibition as a week in the life of fourvisual artists, contributing to anevening of performance, of a medley ofliterary recitation <strong>and</strong> severalwonderful piano recitals.As testimony to the far reaching effectsof time ever spent at the TyroneGuthr<strong>ie</strong> Centre, it’s not surprising thatthis collaboration is taking thoseinfluences with it <strong>and</strong> enhancing theirenergy to keep the groups workingwheels turning!We artists express our gratitude toWestmeath County Council <strong>Arts</strong> Officefor its support in the progression of ourwork at Annaghmakerrig, <strong>and</strong> forArtists Bursar<strong>ie</strong>s awarded, <strong>and</strong> lookforward to future developments <strong>and</strong>artwork from our new collaboration!”MSiobhan Cox Carlos in studio24
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