2008 Artist’s Statement and Approach to Public Art

The focus of my art-making is site-conscious installation art and public art for sustainable communities (ecologically sustainable and non-violence for sustainable relations).

The rich heritage of certain ‘material cultures’ offers me a depth of research sources for inspiration.

These are the important concerns that surround the creative conception of my artwork:
My approach begins with a geographical orientation to site, the existing architectural context and/or outdoor landscape features, as well as attention to the socio-political situation(s) (past and present).

Then, I utilize methods-of-making which bring about the most distilled development of the sculpture and/or architectonic intervention in terms of concept, site-placement and viewer-interactivity.

I like to unearth the past, connecting with a history-of-place with the present and ideas for the future: bridging the span between ancient and future visions, together with the playful enjoyment of imaginary life in an age when the immediacy of telecommunications seems to displace us all.

A practice of ‘art-as-a-living-system’ and time-based sculpture has been ‘my oeuvre’.

Early Artist Statement, 1999

I draw inspiration from A) the site-conditions or geography of place and B) personal themes which interest me: ecological Issues / global warming, my Northern Irish heritage, an interest in ‘divided’ culture(s) (including trauma), an interest in language art or text, and the ‘art of memory and textiles’ as the latter relate to new technology and mobile, global e-communication or migration.

I have also spent a great deal of time researching memorials, monuments / counter-monuments (remembering and amnesia) and the psychological processes of grieving / bereavement / anguish.

I am interested in collaborating with colleagues in performance: music, dance, theatre and/or architecture, and/or visual artists who work in other media: traditional craftspersons and/or new media/intermedia artists.

Practical concerns, such as safety, durability and vandalism must be addressed.

Generally my artwork is accessible to viewers on many levels.