Cucuart
I am an interdisciplinary artist working in printmaking, painting, photography and audio.
My art practice explores and engages with the changing and evolving social and environmental landscape of Ireland. My work is project based: I focus on a particular aspect of society, research it, engage with relevant people and their stories, explore the location and build up a body of documentation and information which inspires the resulting art work.
2012 - 2015 I followed, by bicycle, an old railway network, which wove its way across Ireland. I concentrated on the Midland section of the country, which is no longer vibrant as it once was. Having documented the journey in notebooks and audio recordings, I produced a series of prints: etchings and collagraphs, in response to the documentation. The aim of the resulting body of work is to approach a dialect between a contemporary and a historical view of this part of Ireland. The project goes beyond topography to interweave history, folklore, hearsay, stories, memory, beliefs, nature, natural history, in an attempt to record the patina and texture of place. It witnesses and records the changing landscape, traditions and attitudes.
Current and very recent activity:
Current Project:
2018 From Royal Postboxes and Castles to Wind-farms and Fast Food outlets, a continuing exploration of the Irish Midlands.
2016-17: Curator Little Stories Little Prints, 1916 Commemorative Visual Arts Project through Printmaking.
2012-16: The Midland and Broadstone Projects, a multimedia project exploring the Midlands of Ireland and the legacy of the MGWR
2008-12: Coordinator participant Le Chéile Print Project, International Cross Country Printmaking Project
Solo Exhibitions
2018 Oct: Imagine Art Festival, Coastguard Cultural Centre, Tramore, Co Waterford
Sept: Midland Solo Printmaking Exhibition, Impact 10 Encuentro International, Santander, Spain
2017 Midland/Lár Tíre, photographic exhibition touring libraries in Dublin, Kildare and Offaly.
2015 Aug-Sept: Midland- Lár Tíre, Edenderry Library (Heritage Week Programme).
Aug: Silence, Broadstone Shed, (Heritage Week Programme). Now Permanent Exhibition
Jan-May: Midland- Lár Tíre, Cycling the MGWR from Past to Present. Multimedia, National Photographic Archive, Temple Bar, Dub 2
2014 Nov-Jan: Mid Land 2 / Lár Tíre 2, Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar, Co. Mayo
2013 July-Aug: Mid Land1/ Lár Tíre 1, Áras Inis Gluaire, Béal an Mhuiread, Co Muigheo.
Nov: As it is, Paintings and Prints, Iniscarra Gallery, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin
Recent International Selected Group Exhibitions
2018 Aug-Nov: Invited artist, Bienial Duoro, Portugal
May-Oct: Lessidra International Miniprint Exhibition, Bulgaria
June-July: Miniprint Kazanlak, International Travelling Exhibition, Kazanlak, Bulgaria
2017 Oct-Nov: 3rd International Miniature Print Exhibition, New York.
Aug-Sept: 9th Global Print Bieniale, Portugal
June-Oct: Miniprint exhibitions at Cadaques, (Spain), Lessidra, Kazanlak, (Bulgaria)
2016 Banffe International Miniprint Exhibition, Canada
Miniprint exhibitions at Lessidra, Kazanlak, (Bulgaria) and Cadaques, (Spain).
Selection of Recent Group Exhibitions in Ireland (Selected, Invited and/or Curated)
2018 March: Féile an Earraigh, Ballyferriter, Kerry
2017 Oct: Invisible Stories, a project devised and curated by Sheena Malone, (invited artist)
Aug: Second Harvest, Riverbank Art Gallery, Newbridge, (invited artist)
LPS @ Castlewarren Studios, Kilkenny Fringe
July: Impressions, Galway Arts Festival, Galway
2016 Little Stories, Little Prints touring venues around Ireland
Comóradh, Kenny Gallery, Galway
July: Impressions Book Exhibition, Galway Arts Festival
Awards and Residencies
2017 Arts Act Grant Kildare Co Council
2016 3rd Prize, Lessidra International MiniPrint, Bulgaria
2015 Arts Act Grant Kildare Co Council;
Foras na Gaeilge award
2014 Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Co Monaghan.
Arts Act Kildare Co Council Award
Collections:
Irish Rail,
Kildare Co. Council Municipal Collection,
Dublin City Council
Private Collections in Ireland, England, France, Spain, Bermuda and Australia.