The Imagined Community, an exhibition of drawings, paintings, and sculptures by Ross Cochrane, is currently at Custom House Studios, Westport, open every day until June 7.
Originally from Co Cavan, Ross Cochrane studied at Sligo Institute of Technology, completing a BA in Fine Art in 2006. He has participated in many group exhibitions and workshops. His works are collected in Ireland and overseas. This exhibition consists of a selection of work developed over the last two years, which examines the cultural heritage and identity within the artist’s family – and the associations and influences therein. The work questions inherited values and collective memory, informed through an exploration of oral and visual traditions.
Through his work, the artist investigates issues which particularly effect a sense of cultural identity, a sense of place, the loss of language, rural decline and the spectre of an imminent contemporary violence. These concerns reflect the contemporary, social, political and cultural issues concerning Ireland and the debates around them, and form a parallel with post-colonial deconstruction and custodial aesthetics.
The form and elements of this artwork, the method and processes and the use of material all underlie an inherent subtext suggesting a history of memory as defined through the concepts and actualities of both current, and historic events. The artist reflects on the significance of rediscovering and maintaining cultural memory and promotes an awareness of the importance and fragility of this memory, and of its role in defining our future appearance and identity; a continuous thread between the past, present, and future. The gallery at Custom House Studios, The Quay, Westport is open every day, weekdays, 10am to 5pm, and weekends and holidays 1pm to 4.30pm.
