It’s thanks to my uncle that I ended up in Brazil. Monsignor Martin Keveny spent close to 30 years as a missionary in the state of Tocantins (North Eastern Brazil). His work for me was a continuation of the work my grandfather did as a county councillor in Sligo, building capacities and creating opportunities so that the local population could effectively use the political freedoms they were promised. When I was there, I sought to reflect the landscape so that population could become conscience of the magnificence of their surroundings. Back in Europe, my work explores the ideas and images that drive and shape that space and especially the distance between them.
Brasilieras like the forests in Brazil are seen as something to possess, exploit and abandon once you’re finished with them. The images behind the paintings come from social media and are part of a growing phenomenon of capitalist expansion into our lives, turning the private and the personal into commodities that can be trading. This freedom made possible by the internet and smart phones allow these women to aspire and attain middle class dreams while deepening the alienation on which the system is founded. The titles are HB ice creams that remind us of the colourful, hot summers of our youth and some of the ideas that were acceptable back then.
You can read about it here
