Friday 26 January 2018

Installation Layer Caves to Canvas Series 2018

Installation research and development of ideas.
I have been developing and researching this project since 2013


When I create an Installation there are three stages:

1. The physical stage of the work. The process of creating the work, the exorcising of ideas, demons, giving a voice to the victim to the other. "To meaning and shape to frustration and suffering" - Louise Bourgeois. The materials selected and the forms that will take shape, I have been reading so many interviews of Artists who are influencing my own work at present. "shapes that will provide the viewer with premeditated experiences in order to invoke feelings similar to the victim or oppressor. "When does the physical become the emotional its a circle going around and around" Louise Bourgeois 

2. This is the emotional stage of the work. The Installation is displayed in a public space where the viewer can interact with it or become part of the installation and experience it. The experiences are premeditated  I have a specific set of experiences I want the viewer to have. I want to go further than Louise Bourgeois when she created her Cells, Ann Hamilton is another artist who’s work inspires me to "art"iculate what I am trying to achieve in terms of creating an Installation, I am intrigued by the materials used and relied on to create an environment that stimulates all the senses  auditory, visual, touch and smell. I want to expose the viewer to a world where secrets are exposed. I want the viewer to enter a world "the installation" where their own body becomes part of the Installation and their experience is relying on so many senses, their response will be emotional. The key word is "experience" I want the viewer not just "looking" I want to get a particular emotion after they have had an experience, so to speak. The installation will be in control and will be designed to purposely ignite specific emotions the experiences which will be premeditated. "The viewer would be swept into an awareness beyond that of the normal viewer, intriguing the whole body. I want to bring to the surface the questions we should be asking"  Ann Hamilton.

Katy Kline, the director of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art in Maine, who chose Ann Hamilton for the 1999 Venice Biennale, says of Hamilton, "She invites the viewer into a set of visible and auditory conditions where their entire bodily experience is activated. They are swept into a state of awareness beyond that of the normal viewer. She tries to intrigue the whole body.The second stage is the active stage in this process. The work will take the shape of cubed spaces. The viewer will enter these cube like spaces that will have different materials, that take different forms that the viewer will feel as they pass through these cubes. While some of the viewers are passing through the installation there will be a viewing/voyeur area which allows other viewers to watch the reactions of people as they encounter and navigate their way through the installation.

3. This is the validation of the work. Validating and applying value to the experience. The final stage of the installation is to take the 3D shape and return it to a 2D shape, this is done by opening the installation piece just like opening a box and flattening it ou. Once the installation is "opened" it will then hang on a wall to expose the internal of the work, just like a traditional piece of artwork. The viewer can now look at and review the place that they were part of, now it is an image of their experience, they can reflect and see the innards of the thing.

Below are some photos of my journal, these are rough drawings and notes on installation.

















Thursday 25 January 2018

Benbulben and "the noble six" Paintings for the Irishlandscape and memories series 2015 - 2018



Studies of benbulben in County Sligo



Benbulben acrylic on paper 2018

Benbulben County Sligo 2018

Benbulben, study for The Noble Six Series 2018




Monday 22 January 2018

Practice/study



I have been working on my observation and rendering skills... the below is not a representation of the style of work I focus on and create for Art shows.... I need to do this right now in order to build my rendering and observation skills... going back tonight classic style will help my abstract conceptual work





Charlotte Stack 2018 watercolor sketch #winsorandnewton

Charlotte watercolor and derwent graphitint 2018 #derwentgraphitint #winsorandnewton 

Sunday 21 January 2018

Portrait 2018

#Portrait # svaalumni #jenniferburkestackartist


Portrait Acrylic on paper 2018


Saturday 20 January 2018

Still Life, Fenit.



Acrylic on board...2018/01 Jennifer Burke Stack


Acrylic on board 2018/01 Jennifer Burke Stack

Thursday 18 January 2018

My New York 1986 - 2000

Art Around the Park, Thompson Park, New York, N.Y.

Working in my Studio in Williamsburg Brooklyn


Working in my Apartment 53rd Street, bet 2nd and 3rd Ave, New York


Monday 15 January 2018

The Art of Seeing

David Hockney....


Please note the image below is of a painting by the artist David Hockney.


May Blossom on the Roman Road - 2009 David Hockney


David Hockney’s The big picture series and his YouTube tutorials for lack of a better word, really gives the artist an insight into true observation of the “Subject and taking a 3 D image and placing it onto a 1D surface .... what the artists impression of what they are seeing rather than what the artist is seeing it’s not about making a realistic image one can do that by taking a photograph... it’s about the moment, the atmosphere the interpretation the emotions and it’s these elements that will evoke a reaction from the viewer, it allows the viewer to become part of the narrative.. the final chapter or stage in the artists creation, it all comes together when the viewer stands in front of a finished piece and has an opinion a reaction good or bad. That’s the challenge for the artist to get the viewer to look at something that the viewer is familiar with but in this instance will experience the image/scene/portrait whatever it may be, the viewer looks at it as if for the first time...






http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/david-hockney




https://youtu.be/cO5rCS6G3XU

Monday 25 December 2017

A Lost Son Brian MacNeill an Irish Tragedy-Irish Civil War... The Betrayed, never to be remembered

Eoin MacNeill was one of the founding fathers of the Irish Free State. With Collins, Griffiths, and WT Cosgrave he grasped the chance the Treaty offered to build a new Ireland. But even at its inception this newly independent state was divided against itself. Where MacNeill saw freedom, republicans saw sell-out and surrender. Ireland descended into civil war. As Eoin MacNeill sat in cabinet directing this war, his own son, Brian, was fighting to destroy the new state. For Brian MacNeill, the war would end with his death in Sligo - at the hands of the army directed by his father. Brian's death cast a long shadow over the MacNeill family. The controversial circumstances of his killing were too painful to examine. 90 years on Brian's nephew, Michael McDowell, goes on a journey to discover what happened that day in September 1922. Did Brian and his five comrades really die in an ambush, as the official version goes, or were they murdered in cold blood by Free State troops? And why was Brian MacNeill, the son of a minister in the Free State government, fighting on the Republican side? What were the forces, events and ideologies that drove him and other Irish men to take up arms against their former comrades - and in Brian's case, members of his own family? Filmed in Sligo and Dublin, the documentary follows Michael's investigation. Piecing together accounts from the military archives, IRA papers, interviews with descendants, and family letters, Michael paints a compelling picture of a family divided and a country riven apart. At its core is the story of Brian MacNeill, the brilliant young medical student whose death goes to the heart of one of Ireland's greatest historical traumas.

Sunday 3 September 2017

Wednesday 3 August 2016

My work with the Shoah Foundation recording interviews with holocaust survivors of WW2, and the correlation between this story and Brian McNeill's story during The Irish Civil War.

I am researching and mulling over the connection between memories and the Irish Landscape. I am currently creating Art based on this. I wanted to continue writing my ideas so that I can continue to refine these ideas so that I can better articulate my ideas. I wanted to document these new ideas and connect the current ideas to my previous work with the Shoah foundation, Visual History Holocaust Survivors and the emotions that work evoked is a definite beginning of where my current ideas began to emerge, I worked in Frankfurt for a film and video Production company, my work was to record/film the interviews of holocaust survivors, who told their story. The impact of listening to and recording the interviews of people who survived the holocaust in Germany during World War 2, reinforced how fragile life is, while at the same time reinforcing how massive each life is, when that life is lost in a tragic and violent manner, there is a residue left with us and the landscape, I have written about my experience when working in Frankfurt and on the interviews in the past. So if you need clarification on this work go to the post my artist statement, which is a bio of my life and work.

Currently I am using the story of Brian MacNeill the son of Eoin McNeill.  I am interested in his relationship with Benbulben in County Sligo. Brian McNeill died on the mountain with his men during the Irish War of Independence. There is a documentary that was aired on RTE about the life of Brian MacNeill and this story moved me so much, the documentary was titled The lost Son, it was told by his gran nephew Michael McDowell former minister for Justice for the FF party.

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/alostson.html


I was very moved by the passion he had when he told this tragic story. A story that was repeated all over Ireland at the time of the War of Independence and our civil war, the tragic aspect of the story is that so many men and women died or had to leave Ireland because they did not want the treaty between Ireland and England at that time, and because they did not agree they were destroyed so to speak, and their families were made to forget them thru shame and intimidation, it's as if they were hidden within the landscape died and buried and forgotten, the landscape held their pain and shame. I am exploring the impact of Brian McNeills(and all the others who died or had to be banished from Ireland) relationship with the landscape in particular Benbulben where he and his men sought refuge and protection from the Soldiers, who eventually killed (them)him. I want to examine the impact that tragedy had on our landscape. I am examining the human emotions left behind after betrayal, bitterness, severe pain from the loss of someone to death.but then their families were silenced, by fear and shame. Etc, I am using the landscape to personify these emotions and to somehow answer the why's to these emotions, the unfairness of Brian McNeills death, my blog goes into more detail. When I previously worked in the Film and Video production industry, I worked in Frankfurt, Germany for ACI - Medienproduktionsgesellschaft mbH, Herrn Achim Ehlert Ingolstädter Str.38 60316 FRANKFURT One of the projects I worked on was recording interviews of holocost survivors in Frankfurt and the outer towns.. All of the recordings can be seen in the smithsonian museums in Washington the interviews were conducted in 1996. I am extremely proud of this work and feel privileged to have recorded the interviews and met the wonderful and inspiring people who survived.
I had very similar feelings about the bitter sadness of people who have been victims because of others hatred, greediness the holocaust victims and the survivors stories was probably the first time I began to examine the questions I am now seeking answers to in my Artwork, and that is why I feel it is important to mention this experience when discussing my current work.

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/alostson.html

Monday 1 August 2016

What are your thoughts on the memories our Irish Landscape holds for us

Irish Landscape and the secrets held within based on Our History and interaction with the land, both physical and in our thoughts...

Irish Landscapes of the mind, history, experience, emotions.

Footprints on our landscape, memories left on the Irish Landscape.

Invitation to everyone to please leave a comment on the notion that we leave a solid memory on our Landscape, this can be done by our physical interaction with the landscape, it can even be achieved by our genuine thoughts on a place. I therefore ask you to leave your ideas on this statement and idea. What do you think of the Irish landscape, do you believe it holds memories, and our interactions with the landscape. I pose the question: can your own ideas and feelings towards the Irish landscape have an impact on the landscape in a physicoligical manner or a physical way? I am Researching the idea of the impact of our thoughts and memories on the Irish Landscape. The landscape has a memory and I am investigating this relationship with the landscape in particular the Irish Landscape.
I am using Brian McNeill as a personification of these ideas.
This is a link to a documentary on Brian MacNeill and his death in County Sligo,
http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/alostson.html


The below image is of footprints that can be seen on Valentia Island, County Kerry, Ireland.

Footprints found in 1993 on Valentia Island, County Kerry



The reason I am showing you this image is to stir your thoughts on the notion of leaving a mark on our landscape. Can you think of other ways we leave a mark on our landscape, not only a physical mark as in the image above, I would like you to also think about the impact of your thoughts and views on the Irish Landscape. I will give a brief description on the above image: the image shows footprints that are left permenantly on the Irish Landscape in a remote place in County Kerry. The footprints are forever etched on our landscape. They are Ancient footprints preserved in stone that are estimated to be over 485 million years old. They were discovered in 1993 by an undergraduate geology student on the north-east side of the island.
They are one of the oldest sets of footprints found in the northern hemisphere (oldest found in Australia) and were made by a four legged creature called a Tetrapod.
A Tetrapod was one of the first known four limbed vertebrates to walk the planet. It was roughly the size of a large domesticated cat.
The ancient track-way is of international importance as it provides some of the oldest evidence of one of the first water dwelling creatures to make a transition from water to land?
Not easy to find but well worth discovering these tracks when you visit the island.
It's mind blowing to contemplate the fact that when these tracks were made by this Tetrapod, this part of the world was south of the equator and joined to north America! Our Landscape captured this moment in time and has kept it as a memory to share with us, can you think of other memories etched into our Irish landscape, there memories can be moments that have not necessarily left a physical reminder, for example a war, a battle, can leave a dark memory that our landscape minds, can you share your thoughts with me on that type of memory? Do you think it is possible for our landscape to hold on to our human experiences and interactions and keep thoes as a memory sealed into the land?

I am writing about this as it reminds me in a concrete way the idea of us leaving a mark on the landscape and when I say "us" I mean any living thing. I will continue to find more images of "footprints" I know people have found footprints of humans walking over the land that are also achieve, I will source the pics and post, again food for thought for all the artists following this blog and my ideas, The ideas I publish to keep you inspired and interested in this movement in the Art
 world which depicts the effects the landscape has had from our history, rather than the traditional way Artists used to capture the landscape and give us their visual interpretation, this movement seeks to visualise our impact on our landscape, this movement recognises that the landscape is a part of us and we it, and we explore that relationship.

Caves to canvases the Irish Experience

I found the Title for my upcoming work, watch this space, the actual art work will not been shown or the written proposals/articulated ideas behind the work till the end/showing. That is where the true uniqueness of the artist and work Resides!  It is not enough( for me)
to take pictures and put on a gallery wall or present a video installation without also including artwork that I have created, along with the afore mentioned. I would also like to rely on my skills as a visual artist painter and sculptor and create a visual solution for this project( Caves as refuge for 1916 revolunitaries, the people of the Irish civil war 1922 and our ancestors who sought refuge in our landscape, the impact this history has had and continues to have on our landscape((see previous posts)(it is only then that the viewer will have an answer, actually I will have an answer to the question; of the impact our history has on our landscape and the memory that our landscape holds/ the secrets our landscape holds. The solution is something to view that takes the viewer on the emotional journey that is held by our landscape, I want to unravel her secrets and spread them on a surface. I need to give the viewer in addition to pictures and videos of something that they can see, and presenting the video and still images in a gallery alone does not give it any meaning to me. The viewer can stand infront of the landscape and see exactly what is in the pic. I propose to go beyond that, to put an emotional dimension to the images of the landscape, thereby freeing the imotional impact of our Irish history ... That history which has scarred the landscape in a physiological way.
I will update this as I refine my ideas, the artwork will only viewed before being shown on this blog.


Tuesday 26 July 2016

Irish Landscape and the impact of betrayal, death and bitterness and more on this Landscape: focus on Benbulben Counry Sligo and Brian McNeil during the Irish Civil War and the Irish War of Independence.

The Noble Six, and Brian McNeill 

Benbulben, County Sligo

Benbulben Mountain, Co. Sligo. 

Preparing for a research and working trip to County Sligo in July 2016.  


Benbulben, County Sligo
I have been sketching quite a bit, challenging my observation, and rendering skills in preparation for a research and working(sketching and painting) trip to Benbulben Mountain in County Sligo.

I have become preoccupied with giving a voice to the noble six, and in particular Brian McNeil,  http://www.sligoheritage.com/history.htm. (website that gives a fantastic history on the life of Brian McNeill and the Noble Six)  son of Eoin McNeil. Brian McNeil died on the Mountain Benbulben while on the run. This link gives more information about the story of Brian MacNeill as told by his gran nephew Michael McDowell former Minster for Justice, the story is so tragic as Brian MacNeill was shot down on Benbulben and the men who shot him were on the same side as Brian's Father Eoin MacNeill. 
http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/alostson.html
I am not so interested in the political aspect of this tragic story, although the political aspect of this story resulted in the death of Brian McNeil at a very young age, he was essentially killed by men who supported his own father Eoin McNeil's political views. This was at the time of the Irish war of Independence, a civil war, and Brian found himself on the opposite side to his Father. My focus is on the tragedy of this story and its physiological impact on our Landscape throughout Ireland at this time. I want to create Art that will tell this story and brings together some themes I have been eager to explore in my Art work.

On Benbulben, County Sligo

On Benbulben, County Sligo

On Benbulben, County Sligo

On the way up Benbulben,
County Sligo.


Iam very interested effect violence, betrayal, bitterness, has on our landscape. I believe these emotions and the experiences that cause them are remembered by our landscape, The Artist Willie Doherty (updated on July 31st 2016) had a show which focused on "The legacy the 1916 rising had on our landscape" he focused on Donegal and Dublin, he used Photography and video installation to visualise his idea. His show was part of the Earagail Arts Festival for 2016, and will show in Kerlin Gallery Dublin, and Matt,s Gallery, London.
Before he died Brian McNeill and his men hid a cave in Benbulbin, the fled up the mountain and initially avoided capture ... In the end they were spotted and gunned down.
My previous work has explored the symbiotic relationship between people and the landscape how we come from the land are nurtured by the land and return to the land, I was influenced by the landscape in a formal way, the outlines etched in my mind and I would render these etchings on a surface.
Another theme of my work is giving the victim a voice, the other, the betrayed, the left behind, the idealistic. I again look to the landscape as a way to help create or make tangible my themes and ideas.
I want to follow and gain instruction from the following artists:
Nancy Spero I relate to her use of Artaud and how she gave him a voice, Brian McNeil is My Artaud if you will.
I want to rely on Louise Bourgeois giving the other a voice, he focus on violence the bully, and her style of work.
Richard Serra, his use of space and sculpture.
Update July 31 2016, Because of the similarity in ideas, I will take a look at the work of Willie Doherty for his focus on the 1916 rising and the impact of memory on our landscape.

On Benbulben, County Sligo

On the way up Benbulben,
County Sligo

On Benbulben, County Sligo
On Benbulben, County Sligo


On Benbulben, County Sligo

Hiding in the mist, Benbulben, County Sligo.

On the road towards Benbulben, County Sligo




I found an Artist called Dara McGrath and his work focuses on how voilence effects the landscape: When I read an Essay on his work by Dr. Deborah Lilley here was my response to that:
Below is a conversation we had about our ideas: June 2016

Jennifer Burke:  The essay by Dr. Deborah Lilley really captivates your work. When she says "that violence leaves an invisible trace on the land and that history leaves a physiological  charge on the landscape:  these descriptions makes for a Powerful essay that really complements your work and gives a voice to your images. Very captivating words, and imagery. I have been trying to come up with a total visual solution to capture the use of caves during the Irish war of independence, these caves were used by men on the run, in locations in Killarney, Sligo and in a place close to Fenit where I live. equally I felt these places were charged by the presence of these men, the fear, the violence , the bitterness, the betrayals, and their death, in particular the men who sought refuge in Benbulben in Sligo (Brian McNeill, the son of Eoin McNeill, who along with his men were hunted down by fellow Irish men, finally found and murdered on the spot, my focus is not on the politics, it's on the use of the land as a refuge and the physiological impact on the land. Again great work and excellent essay.

Dara Response:
Hi Jennifer.Nice to hear from you and thank you so much for your great and kind comments. I'm humbled!! I started this out almost 5 years ago on this project and Im on the home stretch. Thankfully. I love your ideas of researching the caves used during the War of Independence and Civil War. Makes me think immediately of Yvette Monahan's work 'The Thousand Year Old Boy' She explores the genetic lineage of bones found in a cave in The Burren. Check out her website. Great approach. I think these days just photographing the object (your caves??) is not good enough. My work beyond just taking the photos, includes objects collected (Ebay), video interviews, archive documents,sounds,  video stills, anything I can get my hands on to convey my ideas on numerous multi-media platforms. From reading your message there seems to be alot of bitterness, betrayals,resentment, secrets. caught up in that time. Dont mean to be pushy but, wouldnt it be good to visually/artistically bring the truth (as far as you know it) to the fore. A sort of resolution to the landscape and the memories that are ensnared into it?? God you got me thinking now!!Thanks again for your kind words and your great ideas.Best wishes. Dara

Jennifer Burke:  Dara Mcgrath that exactly what I want to do, it will be a multimedia show when I finally create the visual solution to my ideas of our landscape and its stories, the secrets etc... I will do some research on the artist you mention. For the month of July I will travel the wild Atlantic way doing research and of course the cave in Sligo. Brian McNeill has become my inspiration, almost an obsession. Please visit my google plus page and read an interview I did with Nancy Spero her inspiration was giving a voice to Artaud a man who was silenced, also my page deals with the themes and ideas of our landscape and how we are connected ... (Sorry not very articulate at the moment.. But tired, I have been sketching and doing some preliminary work for my installation show.

http://jenniferburkeeducatingart.blogspot.ie/2012/12/interview-with-nancy-spero-by-jennifer.html?

Thanks for your reply, essentially you completely understand what I am doing and equally I completely admire your project and agree with you that you have much more to do!!!

Dara :
To be honest, im jealous of your caves idea. So is my partner who peeked into our conversation.Please do keep me posted on how it progresses. When I started my project there were so many doors to open, discover and explore. Now I am closing doors to keep me focused and to finish it. I will get the chance to have a look at all your links later. Best Dara