Artists in Residence, Airfield Trust
- Niamh White - Airfield Artist in Residence 2010 - 2011
- Weekly 'Stitch Sisters' Session
- Sign Your Heart Away
- Andrew Dodds, 'Wunderkammer'
- 2007 Sculptor-in-Residence
- 2006 Photographer in Residence
- 2003 Printmaker in Residence
- 2002 Writer in Residence
Niamh White: Airfield Artist in Residence 2010 - 2011
Niamh White is currently undertaking a six-month period (November 2010- April 2011) as Artist in Residence at Airfield farm. The residency is a partnership project between Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Arts Office and Airfield, with the support of The Arts Council.
Niamh is a graduate of Fine Art Sculpture in NCAD. Her practice centres around participatory and site responsive installation and making. Her work usually revolves around a place, material or mode of communication, often subverting the traditional function of objects and situations to create meaning. Ideas of nurturing, dependence and maintenance of relationships are recurring themes, as well as a strong connection to physical environment and living history. Accessibility is a key consideration of her work and often involves others.
Weekly 'Stitch Sisters' Session
Location : Overend’s Café, Airfield, Dundrum
Date: 11am, every Thursday from February 3 rd to end of April
Price: Free admission
Open to women interested in creating a legacy, Airfield Artist in Residence, Niamh White is investigating the idea of maternal legacy and the passing on and bequeathing to future generations. As part of this work she is calling for participants to join her weekly stitching club where participants will work on cross stitch and embroidery pieces some of which may be personal pieces to pass on to the next generation in their lives. Participants are welcome to join at any point.
Sign Your Heart Away
Location: Airfield
Date: 11am-4pm, 12 th February
Price: Free admission
Join our Airfield Artist in Residence Niamh White for an Open Studio day where she will lead a Valentine’s themed workshop and display her work. Simply drop into her studio off the farmyard between 11am and 4pm. Interested participants should bring their beloved’s shirt or use a ribbon or cuff of fabric we provide and we will work on embroidering our names onto them. This is in honour of the Greek tradition of men tying their beloved’s name around their wrist, entitling them to a year of courtship. Please consider carefully if you are willing to commit to a year’s courtship as this is a binding arrangement!
Andrew Dodds, 'Wunderkammer' - 25 July/2 August, 2009 - Airfield, Upper Kilmacud Road, Dundrum, Dublin 14
Wunderkammer Promotional Leaflet (PDF File - 151kb)
2009 Airfield Artist in Residence, Andrew Dodds has a particular interest in how we culturally produce and represent our understanding of 'nature' and landscape. In his previous work he has used a wide range of materials and techniques to capture our imagination in playful and engaging ways. From blue budgerigars reciting Milton for gallery visitors (Paradise Lost 2001), to a youth orchestra composing and performing the score to a teen 'slasher flick' in the landscape around Grain Power Station, England (Alive!, 2007), to forensic biodiversity surveys of derelict public spaces (Arcadia Amongst the Ruins, 2008 and Underfall, 2009), Dodds consistently reveals new ways for us to relate to and understand the natural world. Most notably, his sound works featuring bird impersonators and talking birds (Unheimlichkeit, 1997 and Sodium Dawn, 2001), exhibited internationally since 1998, have had influence on a recent wave of artists exploring our relationship with 'nature'.
For Dodds' new commission at Airfield he has developed a kind of curiosity cabinet to house artefacts selected from Airfield's archive and grounds. Within the space of a 'social sculpture' the artist has created a place that lies somewhere between the past and an imaginary, yet realisable future. Continuing his interest in non-specific disasters wrought upon civilization, Dodds has constructed a raft - drawing visual and contextual influence from Gericault's 'The Raft of the Medusa' (1819) - its design seemingly plucked from our collective imagination. Mixing fact and fiction the space is part sci-fi tale and part time capsule. Apparently abandoned or recently chanced upon, the viewer is invited to explore the fantasy setting.
The Wunderkammer, or Cabinet of Curiosities, came to prominence in the sixteenth century partly as a means of display for objects gathered by wealthy individuals whilst traveling abroad. Pre-dating the Enlightenment when specialist disciplines and systems of classifying the 'natural world' were just emerging, the objects in a Wunderkammer were presented with little distinction made between natural and cultural artefacts. The presentation and contents of the cabinets would often reveal as much about the collector as they did about the places visited. Crucially, the cabinets and their contents became talking points, more the focus of the social connections between people than the associations between things.
Andrew Dodds is a Belfast-born artist, now based in London. His practice is concerned with uncovering the social and political resonances often hidden within landscape representation and production. His artwork is context-specific - made for a particular place or time - and incorporates a range of artistic methods and materials including installation, sound, video, publication, relational strategies and talking birds. His work is shown extensively at major public galleries, artist-run spaces and non-gallery sites. www.andrewdodds.com
Airfield is a farm and gardens situated on a 35 acre estate in Dundrum. It was the former summer retreat and eventual home of the Overends, a wealthy solicitor's family from Dublin. Airfield supports artists who work in the context of the natural world by presenting new work and offering a forum for learning, debate and the exchange of ideas. It endeavours to provide opportunities for the whole community to connect with and learn about the natural world. Its activities encompass a sense of play and discovery in keeping with Airfield's ethos and uniqueness. www.airfield.ie
For further information or images contact:
Kenneth Redmond, dlr Arts Officer on
01 2719508/ 087 9807602 or email kredmond@dlrcoco.ie
2007-08 Sculptor-in-Residence for Airfield
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is delighted to announce Jennie Moran, as sculptor-in-residence at Airfield for 2007 – 2008.
The artist-in-residence initiative has been a collaborative venture between Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Airfield Trust since 2002. Jennie Moran is the first occasion of a sculptor selected for Airfield. Throughout the residency, Jennie will engage with the distinct environment of Airfield in creative and meaningful ways.
With Gleethings, Jennie Moran’s residency proposal, she marries a playful practice to the quirkiness of Airfield Trust. For the period of the residency, Jennie undertakes to create a series of interventions that illuminate the particular charms of Airfield. An emerging artist, over the past two years she has been exploring ways of providing opportunities for people to step outside their busy routines. Her practice overlaps sculpture with philosophy, psychology and sociology.
Carolyn Brown, Acting Arts Officer, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council comments: “DLR Arts is delighted to have such an innovative and exciting young artist as our sculptor in residence. Jennie Moran’s imaginative work will be well-suited to the fantastic surroundings of Airfield which will no doubt provide her with much inspiration for her work”.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council through its extensive Arts Programme is committed to producing and supporting artistically ambitious programmes across all art forms that stimulate, engage and connect with the public or local community. The current Artist-in-Residency Programme includes: writer-in-residence, Katie Donovan at the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT); fine-artist, Julie Merriman in a residency with the Harbour Board and writer, Claire Keegan who is the inaugural recipient of the Hugh Leonard Writer’s Bursary 2007.
Bernadette Larkin, Head of Education & Programmes at Airfield extends a warm welcome to Jennie Moran and thanks to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for their support of this, our third artists’ residency, saying: “the innovation and playfulness that Jennie demonstrates through her work will lend itself to the natural rhythms and environment of Airfield. We look forward to be surprised in so many ways over the next six months”.
To date, Jennie Moran has developed her art practice of enquiry though several opportunities including: a commission with Kildare Local Authority in collaboration with artists Tara Kennedy and Barbara Nealon (2007); an Arts Council and Dublin City Council supported collaborative project, entitled ‘Hope Inherent’, with artist Tara Kennedy (2005- ongoing). Jennie studied sculpture at the National College of Art and Design from 2001-2005. She currently lives and works in Dublin.
2006 Photographer in Residence
Dominic Turner
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, the Arts Council and Airfield Trust are delighted to announce Dominic Turner as the Photographer in Residence based at Airfield Trust. Dominic is the first photographer in residence in the County and intends to spend his residency concentrating on exploring the archives at Airfield House with the intention of producing a series of images which reflect it's rich and unique history. He will also be exploring the use 19th Century photographic printing processes such as Gum Bichromate and Photogravure with the aid of 21st century digital imaging techniques to produce the final prints.
Dominic Turner is a self taught photographer and graphic designer based in Dublin. His photographic work mainly tends toward the values of the early 20th Century pictorialist photographers, using a broad range of tools and processes, both antique and modern, to achieve his aesthetic. His solo work has been exhibited in Japan, the USA and Ireland as well as having featured in several magazines and books internationally. He has also collaborated on projects with composers and theatre practitioners in Ireland.
This residency is run by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council supported by Airfield Trust and The Arts Council.
Printmaker in Residence 2003
Louise Meade is Printmaker in Residence at Airfield House, Dundrum. The residency commenced in November 2003 and runs until April 2004. Louise will be based in the purpose built and fully equipped print studio at Airfield House, Dundrum.
Born in Dublin in 1959, Louise studied printmaking at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. She is a member of the Blackchurch Print Studio where she works as a full time printmaker. Recent exhibitions include a solo show Uncharted Waters (Original Print Gallery, Dublin) and group exhibitions including Gene Pool (Lemon Street Gallery, Dublin), Print Portraits (Original Print Gallery, Dublin) and Contemporary Irish Prints (National Arts Club, New York) Louise’s work is in public and private collections including The Office of Public works collection.
Louise has extensive teaching experience, which she intends to bring into practice when working with the wider community during the residency. She is running workshops that give the participants the opportunity to experience the fascinating and traditional art of printmaking within the beautiful surroundings of the Airfield Trust.
This is a very exciting undertaking for Dún Laoghaire Rathdown and Airfield Trust as this is the first year a Printmaking Residency has taken place.
If you would like further information please contact the Arts office at 01 2054749 email arts@dlrcoco.ie
This residency is run by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council supported by Airfield Trust and The Arts Council.
The Airfield Trust Writer in Residence 2OO2
The Airfield Trust in partnership with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and the Arts Council is delighted to announce the appointment of Siobhán Campbell as the first Writer-in-Residence at The Airfield Trust. The residency commenced in April, 2002 and will run until November. Siobhán will be developing various outreach programs, establishing contacts with the local community and liaising with the educational program at Airfield.
From the beginning of May, two non-fiction workshops are taking place over a six week period. Among the other Writer-in-Residence projects which will take place at Airfield, are workshops with primary school children who will be visiting Airfield, workshops in writing fiction and poetry, and a seminar for emerging writers is also planned.
Siobhán Campbell
Born in Dublin in 1962, Siobhán Campbell was educated at University College Dublin, where she returned in the 1990s to take a Master of Arts degree in Anglo-Irish literature. She began writing poetry as a teenager and was encouraged by publication in the Irish Press under the editorship of David Marcus. She has been widely published and anthologised and is represented in the major contemporary collections of Irish poetry. She has broadcast her work on BBC and RTE radio and has given readings in Ireland, the UK, Canada and the United States. While living in New York in the early nineties, she worked on her first book The Permanent Wave published by Blackstaff Press, Belfast in 1996. In New York she read at Sin É and at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. In Autumn '98 she was a guest reader at the International Writers Festival in Ottawa, Canada and at the Contemporary Art Fest in Glasgow, Scotland. The work in her second book, The Cold That Burns has been characterised by Paul Durcan as ‘passionately precise, precisely passionate’. Recent readings include the Cuirt Festival Galway and Wexford Arts Centre as well as a number on the west coast of the United States including being the guest reader at Menlo College Poetry Day and at the American Conference for Irish Studies West in Seattle.
