THE BOUNDARIES, borders, and restrictions people impose on themselves and each other is the theme of the Galway Arts Centre's first exhibition of 2016, On the Border between Time and Loss, which opens tomorrow.
The exhibition features the work of Victoria J Dean, Niamh O’Doherty, and Laura Smith.
Dean is a photographic artist based in Northern Ireland, who is currently focused on Ireland’s coastline and the built environment. Investigating the human compulsion to rationalise space, her work records various examples of seaside architecture - from public lavatories to bus shelters, promenades or functional leisure areas - and sensitively captures their various states of regeneration or repair to highlight the tensions between nature and human development on a landscape.
O’Doherty’s work was inspired by two research trips to Hrísey Island, set in a narrow fjord off the north coast of Iceland and just south of the Arctic Circle where she experienced 24 hours of daylight for three weeks in summer, contrasted with just two hours of daylight in mid-winter.
Smith's video installation When All Is Said and Done investigates political restrictions and the implications for individuals, through scripted acts, and documentary. Divided into eight segments, it focuses on specific histories relating to the forced division and deportation of communities, through historical and present day border conflicts and the building of walls.
The exhibition runs until February 26 in the Galway Arts Centre, Dominick Street. See www.galwayartscentre.ie
