Creating "Stick" piece

Creating “Stick” piece

I am inspired by the work of Louise Bourgeois.  I am intrigued by her surreal vision, and how she explores deep psychological trauma through her work.  I love the paradox of the surreal, and the contradictions of her use of hard/soft materials.  There is humour alongside horror in her pieces.

I am intrigued by Dorothy Cross, for her exploration of her home natural environment in Connemara.  She works with found objects in sculptural pieces and combines them with sound, and video to create very evocative pieces, sometimes humourous.  “The gallery is another type of landscape”.

 

These ideas lead to the inspiration for my sculptural piece “Stick”.  I wanted to explore the idea of “Swampy”, the name that some born-and-bred locals use to describe themselves, but which is used in a derogatory way too, “they all have webbed feet there.” 

I found a pair of child’s wellington boots, and moulded webbed toes onto them, to create an object that is both humorous and dark.  For me, it is about inheritance of stereotype, about the labels that are put on people “sticking”, even to the next generation.