SEVEN emerging artists will showcase their work on an all-island, two-day installation on Sherkin Island on Saturday May 18th and Sunday May 19th.
The seven are the graduating students of the BA Visual Art Degree, an innovative honours degree programme delivered on Sherkin Island.
Every second year since 2012, over the course of a single weekend, hundreds of people have visited Sherkin Island to experience the graduate exhibition.
The exhibition takes the form of an island-wide art trail and offers visitors insight into the work of the graduating students, and the island itself.
Featuring the work of seven students – Natalie Allen, Sorcha Browning, Daniel Flynn, Hammond Journeaux, Macha, Paula Quirke and Sarah Wainwright – the work ranges from painting, drawing and sculpture to photography, film, multi-media and digital work, from sound and projection to installation and site-specific work using the landscape, dwellings and other island buildings.
Sorcha Browning is originally from Ballydehob. She had been travelling, before Covid brought her back. During the a time of such change and self-discovery she enrolled in Sherkin Island to align once more with her love of art.
Her final project is based on the constant online engagement and the elements at play within the online world that is so addictive.
Macha is originally from Cork with a background in dance and circus. A neurodivergent gay single mother, she sees art as voice for the voiceless. Her final project is about nature and working with the element of fire and community spirit. Her eight-minute film will be shown on the island and in the Uillinn.
Sarah Wainwright is a care worker with three young children. After completing level 5 and 6 in the West Cork campus she applied to the course and now classes herself as an emerging artist. Her final project is called Interwoven and will be showcased at the Abbey on Sherkin. It looks at how weaving and woven crafts connect to island life and community.
Natalie is 35 years in Ireland and is an art therapist with the HSE working full time as an art therapist in the community.
She is a ceramic artist with a deep love of the islands. Her final project Cast is a watery experience of the world of aquatic sounds. She gives water voice and feel with her sound sculpture casts of the ocean with plaster, glass and sound.
Hammond is originally from New Zealand but is living in Ballydehob since 1996. She enrolled as it was her mother’s dying wish that she pursue her first love of art. A cancer survivor, her final project looks at what it means to be female and the sovereignty of body, especially when undergoing cancer treatment.
Daniel is based in Kenmare where he has an arts studio with his partner. He is the father of a young child and the course allows him the flexibility to pursue his visual arts degree.
His final year project is based on the Kerry baby story and suppressed rememberings. It will consist of 10 paintings that will be shown in the community hall on the
island.
Paula Quirke was living in Dublin, working at the national rehab centre for victims of torture.
She has bought a house on the island and now lives there full time. Paula’s final project ‘A search for new land’ is walking art to find connectivity and resilience. She has worked with refugees on Sherkin and Cape Clear and her project will feature sculpture work in nature on Sherkin’s headland.
Ferries will be running regularly from the pier in Baltimore and a special price deal will be in place for visitors to Beyond the Frame for the weekend, with lunch and refreshments on offer at The Jolly Roger and Sherkin North Shore.
Following the exhibition on Sherkin Island, the graduating students will show their work at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre from May 25th to June 15th in an exhibition curated by director Ann Davoren.
This is the ninth group to graduate from the course. The 2024/2025 academic course is now open for applicants.
For further information, contact TU Dublin programme coordinator, Jesse Jones at [email protected]
