Brigid Teehan
Welcome - [ Fá ] ilte
“Welcome - [ Fá ] ilte” is an unfinished rug started in the 80’s and restarted during the Covid 19 Lockdown but still remains unfinished… This installation suggests a partial welcome on the mat for strangers rather than a more traditional “thousand welcomes”. The artist acknowledges her evolving introverted nature as the Fáilte rug is slowly being made. Once completed it will find a practical function as part of her home, signifying a personal traditional welcome to all.
Apple Seat
“Apple seat” is a nod to the deep mill window seats that invite you to sit and take time out to dream, perhaps of love. The apple is a very old symbol of love and relates back to the Greek God Dionysus who offered apples to win the Goddess Aphrodite’s love. The apple also symbolises ecstasy, fertility and abundance. Why not take an imaginary seat?
Blessed Be The Fruit
“Blessed Be The Fruit” is a line from the TV adaptation of Margaret Atwoods book “The Handmaids Tale”. A rosary-like arrangement of apple halves curve snake-like on the old stone floor. The artist is offering the apple as a blessed fruit of abundance. Growing up the artist remembers cooking apples in plentiful supply for making apple tarts and deserts. Sometimes undervalued in the past because of this they now are treasured and celebrated in apple festivals as local food makes a welcome resurgence. There is also a nod to the tradition of kneeling on the floor to say the rosary but these apple beads are remaking a more ancient snake symbol with more pagan ritualistic overtones.
Fort Focault
“Fort Focault” is based in a working studio space with a loom and a large mysterious chest. The old woven rug is from an abandoned part of a French building that holds old memories for the artist. The studio space in the Berkley Mill created the perfect location to delve back into the past and make a physical response to the mechanics of young heartache that eventually healed.
After Janet
“After Janet” is inspired by an installation of Janet Mullarney’s work shown in the South Tipperary Arts Centre. I combined my love of gingham pattern and a deconstructed toy horse structure with its fake plaited tail which echoes Janet’s installation…The horse was rescued from a charity shop window and the managers partner had attached the plait to the wire horse in an inspired move and placed it in the window to see what would happen. No surprise it caught my eye and ended up joining the old books, green wine glass and fake old fruit to create a surreal picnic scene in front of a kitchen style space that opens into the courtyard. The cool flagstone floor contours up memories of childhood play in the back kitchen of the artist’s home and feels a perfect location for this homage to being small and playful.
New Terra
“New Terra” relates to the artist’s interest in the vernacular wall-building material of Cob. Cob is traditionally made up of various proportions of sub-soil and sand along with straw and water. Here the artist pays homage to the humble earth with it’s potential as a renewed building material for creating sustainable and eco-conscious homes.