In The Head
2009
Synopsis
A series of paintings based on memory / asymmetric storage / layers. All immediate responses.. a personal narrative.
These paintings are time consuming. Weeks and months of layers. The materials are toxic. Many chosen to repel. Layers, like memory, are built over time. The pattern begins to form. Layers are built and sanded back. Imprints (memories) remain. As in iconic memory, the useful memories being saved. The remaining discarded.
Order ( symmetry )
Disorder ( memory defect. )
Process is paramount. The physical act. objective and subjective experience. This process is in three parts as in memory.
ENCODING (receiving, processing and combining of received information )
STORAGE (creation of permanent record of encoded information )
RETRIEVAL, RECALL or RECOLLECTION ( calling back the stored information in response to some cue for use in a process ) i.e the painting.
IN THE HEAD was funded by The Arts Council of Ireland and SligoCoCo. The production of catalogue was kindly supported by Martin Reilly Motors.











Essays
In this era, we sometimes fear that it is not ‘cool’ to concern ourselves with biography and authorship in relation to an artist’s work. Art should somehow be independent and distant from the lived life, commanding an autonomous and museum-like authority. Maybe these are just efforts to protect ourselves from reality. In theory we have…