colourful painting of a row of buildings with tetris blocks and a person falling from the sky

floating islands

installation, painting

2009-13

Beginning in May 2011, Floating Islands was completed during a residency at Nes in Skagaströnd, Iceland. This began as an comparison of the socio-economic and political climates in Ireland and Iceland.

The project developed into an observation of the limitations and social conditions that face people living on islands, and the idea of being insulated. It developed into the idea of the individual consciousness as insulated, and this led to the follow-up project, Archipelago. Many of the works were created in multiple paintings (islands) and this method has also influenced future projects.

This project was part-funded by funded by Sligo Arts Office and took place at the edge of the arctic circle, in 24-hour light, on the Nes International Artist Residency, Skagaströnd, Iceland.

animated gif of a landscape painting changing day after day as weather and light changed

Floating Islands, 2011, Painting, photography, and video documentation, painting 89 x 55cm

This work was created outdoors from the 25-30 July 2011 at Nes Artist Residency. It features views from Skagaströnd over Húnaflói Bay toward Vestfirðir. It captures the disappearing/reappearing landscape on one canvas that changed on each re-painting.

The work changed daily, repainted twice per day. Artist and photographer Knut Sennekampf, also on residency at Nes, created photographs at the same moment each day which were later put into a short publication.

A video of the work can be seen on Youtube at this link.

the animated image above, but each individual frame. To avoid repetition, all ten images here are landscape paintings of the same sea and island line, at different times of day and in different weather. This is near-white foggy

day 1 midnight

day 1 midday

day 2 midnight

day 2 midday

dark. the canvas is soaked with raindrops

day 3 midnight

dark daylight scene, purple mountains in distance

day 3 midday

day 4 midnight

daytime scene but large waves and dark clouds

day 4 midday

day 5 midnight

day 5 midday

final image

painting with tetris pieces falling into a strange landscape, and a person near-front face-down

What Goes Up, 2011, Oil and Acrylic on Linen, 210 x 130cm

This work marked the beginning point of the crossover into the Archipelago project. The painting looks at the fall of the construction industry that propped up an unstable Irish economy until the financial crash in 2008.

It was exhibited and sold at a 3-person exhibition Make the 80s the Decade of Endeavour at KT Contemporary art gallery, Dublin.

digital print of an abandoned housing estate with text barely legible on the right

Adding to the list, 2011, Digital print on silk paper , 33 x 22cm

a dyptich painting made with dripping CMYK colours. Left is a lighthouse, right is a part of an airplane

30 Years of Pirates, 2011, Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas, 209 x 77cm

This work uses imagery from Ireland and Iceland, bringing together graphs, photographs and maps to create a relational space between the two islands through painting.

This was the final work from time spent in Iceland researching insularity for the Floating Islands and Archipelago projects.

four bright paintings using CMYK colours with tetris shapes. In a gap in each painting is an image of a person who seems trapped, or is falling

Dancing to Korobeiniki, 2011, Acrylic on four linen, individually 55 x 48cm

The title comes from the Russian folk song Korobeiniki (popularised by the video game Tetris), using the aesthetic and mechanic of the popular video game (creating and destroying large structures) alongside the idea of being trapped or insulated.

painting of an abandoned house, unfinished, in a greeen background and with a sign outside like a sale sign but with no text

Down The River, 2011, Acrylic on canvas, 61 x 46cm

painting of a digger behind a fence, expressively finished

Working Hardly, 2011, Acrylic on canvas, 61 x 46cm

sparse painting of a windmill floating on a rock in a blue sky and brown landscape

Missed The Memo, 2011, Oil, Wax and Acrylic on Linen, 71 x 102cm

digital photo of shiping container in a cliff face, made with bright colours

Untitled 2 (Why See Em?), 2011, Digital projection, dimensions variable

digital photograph of ladder in foreground with a water tank in the background, in bright colours

Untitled 1 (Why See Em?), 2011, Digital projection, dimensions variable

painting of a man in a wheelchair, he in grey and the rest in bright purple and yellow, with the word INSULATE spelled out around the outside. The man is Martin Kippenberger

No Man Is An Island, 2011, Oil on Canvas, 60 x 61cm

This is a portrait of Martin Kippenberger taken from a photograph of the artist when he was nearing death through liver failure.

influences

things I read or saw that helped create this project

halldor laxness under the glacier (1968) book [LIT]
yi-fu tuan space and place (1976) book

collaborators

colleagues who worked on this project with me

the other artists at nes artist residency who gave their opinions and responses: candice, dieter, evelyn, evan, kate, naomi, wendy, gordon, knut, matt, min-hae and many others (thank ye!)
amy, always, from here on out

financial support

people or organisations who helped fund the work

sligo arts office for supporting travel to the nes artist residency
Nes Artist Residency, Iceland.