Upcoming Online Exhibition - INCOGNITO - In Aid of the Jack & Jill Foundation

I am thrilled to take part in this years Incognito 2020 exhibition alongside my sister Alicia and so many other talented artists. This event is a fantastic fundraiser for the Jack and Jill children's foundation. This year it was split into two parts and has moved online, as a physical event is currently impossible.

Artworks from part one of the sale sold out online in 9 minutes, already raising 90k for this worthy cause.

Its wonderful to see such ardent support for such a brilliant cause. Great opportunity to get yourself an original artwork in a nice postcard size. Don't miss out part 2 of the sale previewing this Monday 11th May, with the pieces going up for sale on May 28th. Going to have to quick on the draw for this one!!!

A little bit about Incognito 2020:
"Every cent from Incognito is used to fund Jack & Jill’s home nursing-care for very sick children, who do better at home, where they are well cared for by their parents with critical support from Jack & Jill nurses and carers."

To access the preview and pick out your cards in advance visit: https://www.incognito.ie/

And for the Jack & Jill main website: https://www.jackandjill.ie/

News - Now Featuring in Kolaj Magazine's Artist Directory

I am thrilled to have my work recently added to Kolaj Magazine’s Artist Directory. It is a great privilege to be added to this directory alongside so many other fantastic collage artists. Kolaj Magazine does much fine work towards the progression and furtherance of the Collage as a vital, involving and highly relevent movement in contemporary art. This is acheived both by the immense quality of the publication itself, as well as through their exciting initiatives such as Kolaj Fest and The Kolaj Institute.

A Statement About My Work:

Over the last number of years my work has spoken on a vast array of different topics, all of which have been drawn together by my own meandering passions and ideas; and somehow centrally bound by a deep interest in fostering human growth. I believe the arts have an essential role in the maturation and the restorative humanization of our society; by providing us with a means to share lived experiences, reflect on the harsh realities of today, and to imagine infinite possible futures through the vehicle of creativity.

Collage has always felt like the most apt means for reflecting on our fractured society. By providing an opportunity to hijack the narratives and imagery of advertising, newspapers and other sources of mass printed and digital media, collage delivers to us a possibility. The possibility to repurpose and restructure mass media messaging; creating unified reflections that emerge from our own experiences, unconscious processes, hopes, struggles and dreams.

Whether I am working with digital or analog collage, or whether the topic at hand is political, personal, comical or purely experimental; I am following a deep intuitive response to my own processes of selection, placement and commitment to a final composition. I believe that any time one of us engages in this kind of process the result is a unique piece of work, drawn from our creative alchemical selves and delivered through the medium of collage.

Check out my featured listing by clicking here

More About the Artist Directory

Kolaj Magazine‘s Artist Directory is a tool for organizing and cataloguing artists who work in the medium of collage. Its audience includes the general public as well as independent curators, art venues, and writers.

The editorial staff of Kolaj Magazine uses the Artist Directory to select artists to feature in the publication and to select artists for various curatorial projects.

The Doug + Laurie Kanyer Art Collection uses the Artist Directory to learn about artists for their collection. Members of the Artist Directory are permitted and encouraged to refer to their Listing when responding to Calls to Artists as a way of facilitating their response.

The Kolaj Magazine Artist Directory is the primary online gateway of the Kolaj Institute Artist Archive and is used to organize online information about artist members.

The Artist Directory exists as a public resource for those interested in collage as a medium and is designed to put interested parties in direct contact with artists.

Magazine Feature - Murze Magazine Issue Eleven - 'Consciousness, Mindfulness and Clarity'

I am thrilled to once again have work featured in the amazing Murze Magazine. This time work from my ‘Inner Space’ series will feature in Issue Eleven of Murze. I have to say I am loving the illustrations by the cover artist Erin Cutler.

Murze Magazine Issue 11 - 'Consciousness, Mindfulness and Clarity'

An exploration into our understanding and perception of our minds, and mental health. We look at the dark, the light and the journey artists have gone through in exploring our minds and the emotions that consume us.

A little bit about the magazine:
Murze magazine holds regular artist calls providing opportunities for both current and emerging artists to share their work through our platform. We feature artwork from artists of all demographics and nationalities, our calls are international and inclusive.
We hold a variety of open calls for photography and artists such as Political Art, Fluke and Minimalist. As well as projects and digital residencies to get more immersed in such as our Art for Advent project, Word and Ten days of Art.

5% of the sale goes towards Arts And Minds, a charity using the arts to help those with mental health issues.

Each sale of Issue Eleven will also pay for the planting of one Tree 🌳

For more about Murze Magazine visit: www.murze.org

Upcoming Exhibition - Schwitters Army @ MERZ Gallery, Queen's Rd, Sanquhar, Scotland, DG4 6DH, United Kingdom

It is truly fantastic to have an opportunity to take part in this international collage project organised by Ric Kasini Kadour and hosted at the MERZ Gallery, Sanquhar, Scotland.

Running from January 8th - February 20th 2020

MERZ Gallery
Queens Road
Sanquhar DG4 6DH
Scotland, United Kingdom

More about Kurt Schwitters, MERZ and this project by the our host Ric Kasini Kadour below:

For Kurt Schwitters, MERZ was his manifesto. He explained it as “the combination of all conceivable materials for artistic purposes, and technically the principle of equal evaluation of the individual materials.” His intention was to give anything from a used bus ticket to a piece of wire found on the street “equal rights with paint.” MERZ liberated artists by declaring anything potential material for their art making and, to illustrate this concept, he made hundreds of collages which he called MERZ pictures. Such forward thinking led art historian Isabelle Ewig to call him the “Father of the fathers of Pop.” Really, any collage artist working today owes a debt of gratitude to Schwitters, who not only legitimized the medium, but also established a working practice and aesthetic that is the basis of many artists’ contemporary practice.

For more about the Schwitters Army Project march on over HERE.

Magazine Feature -Murze Magazine Issue Ten - 'Double Vision'

I am absolutely delighted to have contributed work to the upcoming issue of the beautiful looking Murze Magazine:

Murze Magazine Issue 10 - 'Double Vision'
Is centred around the dual themes of Wildlife and Political Art. I am honored to have several works from my 'Reflections On An Age Of Anxiety' series featured in this issue, to be released on February 5th.

A little bit about the magazine:
Murze magazine holds regular artist calls providing opportunities for both current and emerging artists to share their work through our platform. We feature artwork from artists of all demographics and nationalities, our calls are international and inclusive.
We hold a variety of open calls for photography and artists such as Political Art, Fluke and Minimalist. As well as projects and digital residencies to get more immersed in such as our Art for Advent project, Word and Ten days of Art.

For more about Murze Magazine visit: www.murze.org

Seasons Greetings - Merry Chirstmas From Jarl Jamison Sandoval IV and Family

A Very Merry Christmas to all my family and friends! I hope you all have a wonderful few days of craic and banter, wherever you are. This year the intrepid researchers at the Freeform Trouble Monster Archives have gotten their devious little hands on something special.

Every year Jarl Jamison Sandoval IV of Greenland sends out a greeting card to the citizens of Greenland wishing them a Merry Christmas. Somehow this year we managed to get on the mailing list. Here we see Jarl Jamison Sandoval IV, his son Edwin Jamison Sandoval and his wife Lady Poppy Jamison Sandoval celebrating in the sitting room of their Palatial Ice Caves far in Northern Greenland. Lady Poppy is seen hear wearing an actual Santa hat gifted to the family from Father Christmas himself, imagine that!!! So from this furry family in the icy northern thundra to you and yours Happy Christmas and Happy New Year.

To discover more about Jarl Jamison Sandoval IV and a whole magnificently monsterous menagerie of incredible creatures follow the sound of sleighbells through this link.

Upcoming Exhibition - Mayo Artists Exhibition @ The Linenhall Arts Centre, Linenhall Street, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, Ireland

The Linenhall Arts Centre, Linenhall Street, Castlebar,Co. Mayo

Friday 6th December 2019 - Saturday 11th January 2020

I am very happy to announce my participation in the upcoming Mayo Artists Show 2019 which will be taking place at two locations, The Linenhall Arts Centre (Castlebar) and The Ballina Arts Centre (Ballina).

The official opening of the Mayo Artists Show takes place on Friday 6 December (6.00pm at the Linenhall Arts Centre, and 8.00pm at Ballina Arts Centre) There will be a free return bus departing the Linenhall Arts Centre for Ballina Arts Centre at 7.15pm on Friday 6 December. Seats are limited and pre-booking is essential.

Here is a statement from the Gallery:

The show presents a cornucopia of work in all manner of media and offers a fascinating snapshot of the breadth of visual arts practice in the county. And with something for all tastes (and prices), this might just be the ideal opportunity to find that elusive and unique Christmas gift.

For more from The Linenhall Arts Centre visit: www.thelinenhall.com

And The Ballina Arts Centre: www.ballinaartscentre.com

The Freeform Trouble - Rare Monster Archives Returns With Dastardly Dispatches From Year -Two

The month of October upon us and as Halloween lurches towards us with one piercing eye and an outstretched claw, it is once again time for our researchers at the Freeform Trouble - Monster Archives Team to reveal this years ghastly findings. Seen here for the first time outside of government vaults, secret collections and classified files and for your viewing pleasure the Dastardly Dispatches from Year-Two.

The image above is Recorded Sighting: #14 – Negasus the Inverticorn

“Negasus the Inverticorn Drains the Happiness and Wonderment from Mrs. Elizabeth Jeffrey Barnstaple” (1936) - Shot taken by Martin Jeffrey Barnstaple in the bedroom of their home on Bannister Street, Withernsea, U.K.

We have all heard of the magical wonder of that rare mystical animal the Unicorn. Yet thankfully many of us have never encountered or even learned of its darkling twin. Only one Inverticorn has ever been known to exist in our world and its name is Negasus. Instead of a singular distinctive glistening horn, Negasus has a deep indentation in its forehead; and it is this deep pit, between its eyes that gives the creature its name. Here exists a pure negative space, a zero point of true nothingness, which draws all joy, magic, motivation, wonder and hope out from those who peer into it. It would in fact be correct to classify the Inverticorn as a form of Equine Vampire which feeds upon the emotional life-force of its human victims.

In this incredible image we can see that Negasus having attacked its victim in her sleep is now mid-feed, draining the joy and wonderment out of Mrs. Elizabeth Jeffrey Barnstaple like it is chomping down on a tasty bag of oats. This whole event was recorded by her husband Martin Jeffrey Barnstaple who amazingly went to get his camera instead of for help; but there are those who live on Bannister Street that have suggested that Martin was involved somehow. A charge he dually denies. Yet Martin had been seen meeting with unusual robed figures, at odd hours, in strange locations. Perhaps the Inverticorn was intentionally summoned to the Barnstaple residence that fateful night. What sinister forces were at work? Who were those hooded figures? Why didn’t Martin try to help? We will probably never know the answers to these questions. . .

Visit the archive vaults for more fearsome findings . . .

Upcoming Exhibition - Brittle/Fragile @ Westival Gallery, Castlebar Street, Westport, Co.Mayo, Ireland

Westival Gallery, Castlebar Street, Westport, Co.Mayo,

Wed Oct 23rd - Mon Oct 28th, 10 am - 6pm daily.

Launch Weds Oct 23rd 7 pm

Free

I am thrilled to announce that this October I will take part in Brittle/Fragile an Exhibition taking place as part of Westports Upcoming Westival.

Here is a statement from the Festival:

Through an open call, artists were invited to submit work on Westival 2019’s theme, ‘Brittle / Fragile’. The result is an exciting and varied group show showcasing selected work from Irish and international artists, featuring sculpture, painting, drawing and photography.

The theme proved a generous, many-headed muse, with artists responding in a huge variety of ways and presenting a multiplicity of creative interpretations – personal fragility, vulnerability as strength, frailty engendering feelings of protectiveness, the brittle geopolitical landscape, the fragility and ever-increasing vulnerability of our planet….

Thought-provoking and impressive in equal measure, this exhibition is a must-see.

For more about Westival and a full program of events visit: www.westival.ie

Upcoming Lecture: A Collage Of Consciousness as part of Collagistas #6 @ Maison du Peuple de Saint-Gilles, Parvis Saint Gilles 39, 1060 Saint-Gilles, Brussels, Belgium

Every moment of our life, our senses drink in fresh experiences, ideas, perspectives and information about the world around us. Fragments of imagery, sound, taste and feeling are constantly woven together to form the rich fabric of our conscious experience. Each of us is infomed by our culture, our education, our peers, our memories and our own unique creative intelligences in the way we select and sort through information from the wider world.

As we reflect on our lives, we can make sense of what has happened to us, what has gone before and what may happen in future. We look to the vast mllieu of our past experience to provide us with a map of the world and how to operate in it. But we also do something else. . .

In our dreams, our daydreams and through intentional creative practices, our minds bend, collide, break, smash, blend, meld, forge and integrate together previously unrelated elements of thought, sound, memory, sight, concepts etc. Into new, unique and fantastic forms. We are never satisfied our old map, continously adding new and colourful territories. A synthesis of old forms into new, an innate creative drive which is elegently reflected in the process of Collage.

The skilled collage artist follows his/her own intuitive and aesthetic sense, selecting imagery, cutting, tearing, placing, playing, dicing, splicing and bracing. Filtering the infinite possible array of visual and textual source material through their own unique experiences of living in this world, with its triumphs and trials; andproducing in the end something new, a singular reflection on the times in which we live.

Join artist Anthony D Kelly for a lecture exploring The Collage of Consciousness:

Sunday 8th September 2019

11.00-11.30

Maison du Peuple de Saint-Gilles, Parvis Saint Gilles 39, 1060 Saint-Gillis, Brussels, Belgium

As part of Collagistas #6