Concurrent
Sinead McKeever
13 April-18 May
Northern Irish born Sinead McKeever received her Master of Fine Art with Distinction from Belfast School of Art, University of Ulster at Belfast. Since 2009 she has been based at Queen Street Studios (QSS, 11-13 Bloomfield Ave, Belfast). McKeever is represented by Gallery 545. Solo and Two-person shows include: Antenna, Millennium Court Arts Centre, Co-Armagh. Solo So High, ARTANK, Belfast. TIPPING POINT, QSS Gallery, Belfast. In-Between, Radnorshire Museum, Wales. Group Exhibitions: The Dark, Centre for Contemporary Art, Derry/Londonderry. Contemporary Art of Northern Ireland, 545, Island Arts Centre, Lisburn. Future Forward, MART Gallery, Dublin. PS2 Gallery, Belfast. Royal Hibernian Academy 188 Annual Exhibition, Dublin. Palimpsest, GROUP SHOW, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast. Synthetic Aesthetics, Leitrim Sculpture Centre, Co-Leitrim. Precursor, Experimental, Catalyst, Belfast. SCORE, Linenhall Arts Centre, Co-Mayo. Expanded Studio Project, Primary, Nottingham, England. Royal Ulster Academy125th Annual, Belfast.
Awards include: Esmee Fairbairn Career Enhancement Programme (Invited Artist), Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast. Royal Ulster Academy 125 Annual Exhibition, Belfast. Arts Council Northern Ireland SIAP. Short listed artist for Phoenix Natural Gas Commission. Artworks are in Arts Council Northern Ireland Collection, Phoenix Natural Gas Collection, Yamaha Music School Ireland and Private collections.
There are algorithms that think they know me better than I know me
The C O N C U R R E N T exhibition at Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre is centred around a series of artworks that interrogate the slippages between sculpture, painting and drawing in the expanded field. It highlights the interplay of industrial and domestic materials.
Propositions play on formal elements, display and negative space using the motif of disrupted order. Paintings are elevated on bespoke supports, artworks are extended to continue around corners, in some cases the Plexiglas is lifted at a corner to sneak a peek of what lies behind. Sculptural plinths of various sizes tumble precariously from the clerestory window in the Keady Gallery.
The mirrored plexiglass has been exposed to the elements for seven years, they have been repurposed and given new life. Embedded scratches and markings reveal the traces of being weathered. Some pieces reacted to temperature fluctuations and solvents used, triggering cracking, clouding and crazing. These processes of erasures, obliterations, piercings and layering, echo what is made visible and what remains hidden. As the artworks are mirrored on both sides these processes highlight twin aspects, what is behind is reflected on the wall and what is in front of the artworks momentarily become part of the artworks. The visitor’s presence is reflected in the artworks. The gallery lighting plays with the various plinth-like-forms projecting coloured shadows on the walls, blurring where the artworks start and where they end. Paints, nail varnishes and spray paints are smeared to enhance the exuberance of saturated colour.
C O N C U R R E N T refers to two or more events, actions or processes happening at the same time or occurring simultaneously, this term describes the parallel progress and development in my artistic practice. Titles are borrowed from computer terminology where meanings can shift depending on contexts.
‘There are algorithms that think they know me better than I know me.’
Algorithms currently perpetuate bias and limit choices, so how can an algorithm know me. The questioning of these hierarchical systems of measuring and knowledge are filtered and constructed in an ongoing exploration of spatial occupation and application. My goal is to create a dialogue between the viewer and the objects I create, fragmented beginnings and endings are volunteered so that perception and interpretation are open ended. The treatment of the surfaces in my artworks reflects current cultural concerns for chemical usage linked to corporate pink-washing and environmental hazards.
The mirror finishes offer a respite to indulge in our obsession for selfies and filters.
