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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“I hope to create narrativeswhich invite people tore-assess the familiar<strong>and</strong> ordinary.”Face-toFace-to-Face with Westmeath artist, FIONA KELLYFace-How do you describe what you do toothers?I assemble visual fables.Please give us some more details asto the materials you use, why <strong>and</strong>how you construct your art.I work through a myriad of techniques<strong>and</strong> materials in reaction to my foundenvironment, but primarily I find mynarrations come in the medium ofRel<strong>ie</strong>f Printmaking. A medium whichhistorically is identif<strong>ie</strong>d as a conduitwhich provides functional illustrations,presenting moral narratives in a simpleinformative way.I utilise the resonance of the rel<strong>ie</strong>fprint to address my contemporarysocial concerns for the individual <strong>and</strong>environment. I use common placeobjects <strong>and</strong> fairly comical slogans toillustrate fables, facilitating the v<strong>ie</strong>werto question this banal absurdity ofeveryday situations; what was thoughtto be familiar has to be re-accessed.What are you trying to ach<strong>ie</strong>vethrough your work?I hope to create narratives which invitepeople to re-assess the familiar <strong>and</strong>ordinary.When did you first become attractedto art <strong>and</strong> when did you decide tofollow this as a career path?Art has always been a constant in mylife. My parents always had a stock ofcrayons for us. I have never felt like Idecided that art was a career path, itis just where I walked to.You seem to work <strong>and</strong> be popular inthe Nordic countr<strong>ie</strong>s. Is there aparticular reason for this?I don’t know if I am popular in Nordiccountr<strong>ie</strong>s, but Nordic countr<strong>ie</strong>s arepopular with me! I am intrigued withthe vacant L<strong>and</strong>scapes in the north,so wonderfully beautiful <strong>and</strong> cruel. Thepeople I have met there have atremendous sense of humour <strong>and</strong> Iwill always avail of any opportunit<strong>ie</strong>s togo back.What was it like having your workdisplayed in Shanghai <strong>and</strong> New York?The New York Print Death Swap Showwas really fun; a fr<strong>ie</strong>nd in the Statestold me about the opportunity <strong>and</strong> weappl<strong>ie</strong>d <strong>and</strong> got involved as we werebig fans of the organisers- CannonballPress. A punk b<strong>and</strong> played at theopening <strong>and</strong> I realised how distinctiveit was to be a printmaker, creatingwork in editions; sharing <strong>and</strong>swapping. It was a revelation <strong>and</strong> aworking ethos that I have kept withme.Shanghai was epic, my twocollaborators - Am<strong>and</strong>a Rice <strong>and</strong> EdelO’Reilly, which I’m part of the Artistcollective Cork Contemporary Projectswith, worked extremely hard to get tothat point. China was an amazingexper<strong>ie</strong>nce <strong>and</strong> the most challengingprofessionally thus far. I have beenreally fortunate to have suchambitious, accomplished <strong>and</strong> loyalfr<strong>ie</strong>nds as contemporar<strong>ie</strong>s. It is soimportant to have a network you canrely on, especially in such a highprofile show. Am<strong>and</strong>a, Edel <strong>and</strong> I metwhile studying together at TheCrawford College of Art.When you set out on this path whatwas your ultimate goal?I didn’t have an ultimate goal, but nowit’s to have a little cottage with a bigshed (studio) <strong>and</strong> a sheep dog!32AN EXCLUSIVE OPPORTUNITY
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