Ormond Art Studios

In June this year Lauren Conway’s graduate exhibition A Great Public  Meeting launched at the IADT On Show website. Conway’s drawing practice explores empty educational spaces that  question and challenge aspirational promises put forward by the state  through formal education. Through the use of archival materials,  documentation from site visits, and found images from her teenage years,  Conway explores tensions between the empty school sites and the dense,  awkward dancefloors of teenage discos.

View Conway’s work at IADT On Show.

Her next body of work currently in  production concerns themes of state school curriculums as a vessel for  political policy.

This year studio member Bronagh Lee published her first illustrated children’s book, ‘The Pain in the Chest’ written by Áine Murray, and has announced the second book she is working on – ‘Rosie’s Magical Umbrella’ written by Karen Ryan.

The Pain in the Chest “follows a girl through her childhood and shows how anxiety has affected her using beautiful illustrations and rhyme, we learn that when we talk about our anxiety, we can find help, and the anxiety loses its power.” In a studio vlog, Bronagh discusses the full process, from reading the manuscripts, sketching and brainstorming, to the finished illustrations.

Having seen the beautiful process behind Pain in the Chest, everyone in the studio is waiting with bated breath for “Rosie’s Magic Umbrella” – “A child’s imagination is a powerful tool, but what if it REALLY could take you anywhere? Join Rosie as she heads out on a rainy day adventure like no other!” (Release date TBA 🐠)

For now, we can share with you the amazing cover art, as well as a of sneak peaks of the inner workings …

Recently, studio member Adrian created some beautiful artwork for Java Republic’s new India Gems of Araku coffee (pictured above).

Adrian created a striking label to represent the people through unity. It is inspired by the people behind the coffee which consists of almost entirely indigenous tribes. The bold and vivid colours showcase the richness of Indian culture, while the lone hand reaching towards the gem represents the meticulous hand-picking process and the coffee quality itself.

Java Republic have teamed up with several independent Irish artists to create unique artworks for each of their limited edition single origin coffees. To see how Adrian made this artwork, check out this video!

Studio member Emma Battlebury’s work features in Triest Gallery, Brooklyn NY, within the group show ‘Speaking Esperanto’.

In the exhibition literature, it discusses how it’s “ambitious to paint with the intention that everyone will understand just what it is you are painting, just as it is ambitious, even naive, to believe in a world united by a common tongue. The paintings in this exhibition were not selected because of their shared thematic content, nor were they chosen because they might speak the same visual language. Each work is able to converse not due to their formal similarity, but merely because of the ambition of the artists, who believe, much like Esperantists, in an ongoing, sometimes lateral, progression of a timeless system. Marc Matchak paints the protagonists of a Young Adult novel series, annonymizing these characters with a shifting sense of style, texture and pattern. The gray bed cover that comprises two-thirds of the frame further complicates our attempts to situate the figures between memory and their original context. Emma Battlebury’s despondent fairy is a fantastical creature with an impressively modern sense of angst. Wings drooping, head bowed, the fairy takes a phone call with a sense of gravity antithetical to her whimsical nature. Timelessness is also abundant in Georgia Gray Gardner’s vividly rendered oil paintings. A woman with eyes closed as if in veneration is haloed like saints in medieval paintings; on her neck, she wears a 90’s-style tattoo choker. Chemtrails and scarlett clouds of smoke in the background mark something foreboding in this collision of the contemporary with the divine.”

In the past few months we’ve had a couple of new members join the studio – Adrian Wojtas, Phoebe Kelly-McDonnell, and Lauren Conway.

Adrian Wojtas is an artist working with photography and film – he joined the studio in December 2020.
Influenced by his bilingual and bicultural upbringing, much of his photographic work often deals with themes of identity and culture. In his work, he often makes use of carefully selected colour palettes which he utilises in order to convey the tone and mood of the scene, and to elicit an emotional response in the viewer.

---

Phoebe Kelly-McDonnell is a Dublin based painter, and joined the studio in March 2021.
Her practice is based on the active observation of the everyday, focusing on the complexities and wonder (a word intended to encompass awe and horror as well as joy) of daily existence. Through colour, gesture and form, she tries to communicate what it is to live in an impermanent body within an inherently uncertain and ever changing environment. Her works are made via a combined process of writing, drawing and painting and draw upon personal observations, poetry, film and found imagery.

---

Lauren Conway is a visual artist who lives and works in Dublin, Ireland, and joined Ormond in April 2021.
Through the process of drawing, her work seeks to tease out a commonality between collective memories of being a participant within educational spaces and institutions. In 2019 she was awarded a place to study at Kuvataideakatemia Helsinki as part of the University’s Erasmus programme. Recent group exhibitions include High Heart: IADT Rollover shows, Pallas Projects + Studios, Cruxx.project, Rathmichael Ring Fort, Under the seams runs the pain, Ex Lab, Helsinki and Online Program 2020, CIACLA Contemporary Irish Arts Centre, Los Angeles. Lauren is currently a member of the Douglas Hyde Student Forum III and a student associate at the National Forum of Teaching and Learning. Her writings have been published in Bloomers Art Magazine, RHA Young Art Writers Zine 2018, and as part of the online programme for cruxx.project

Ormond Art Studios are delighted to be inviting applications for our 2021 Graduate Residency Award!

After adapting our Graduate Residency Award last year due to COVID-19, we intend to return to our previous format, health guidelines and restrictions permitting. The Ormond Art Studios Graduate Award will include a studio residency and peer mentoring in Ormond Art Studios for the month of September 2021 and will culminate in a solo exhibition in the Ormond Project Space. (If anything changes in regards to the health guidelines and restrictions, the Graduate Residency may be adapted to suit an online orientated format as per our 2020 Award. The recipient will be informed in advance if such a change occurs.)

To apply please email your application in PDF format to ormondartists@gmail.com with the following information:

• Letter of interest with regards to the Award and how you feel it will benefit your practice (300 words max)

• Artist Statement detailing the themes, working methods, and use of media in your practice (300 words max)

• Examples of work: documentation of work in the form of images or video hosted on Vimeo/YouTube/Own Website (please make sure these are not password protected/provide password). Please include the following details: title, medium, dimensions/duration, date of work. (10 works max).

• Up-to-date CV (2 pages max)

Applications are welcome from all 2021 BA graduates and are due by midnight on the 5th of July 2021.

At the end of 2020 the artists of Ormond decided to create an annual to highlight the different artists that shared our space in 2020 as members, residents, and award winners in 2020. Also included are extra annual activities and information about the studio.

Members featured in the 2020 edition of the annual include:
• Lorcan Cassidy
• Alex Keatinge
• Ellie Berry
• Bronagh Lee
• Emma Battlebury
• Adrian Wojtas
• Olivia Normile
• Clare Lyons
• John Conway
• Suzanne Walsh

The annual is available to download for free here.
You can also order a physical copy – either paperback here or hardback here.

unrecognisable (spillway) focuses on digital image cultures and how mediated imagery is performed in ways that alter memory and the self. The infinite making and remaking of digital identities questions the possibility of true ‘authentic’ memory in the digital age. The aim is to question the role multinational technology companies play in how we view ourselves and whether networked environments drive compulsive self-obsession, ultimately blinding users to their own ends.

Luke van Gelderen is a visual artist based in Dublin whose practice encompasses video, performance and sculpture, focusing on how digital image cultures are performed. He is a 2020 graduate of Dún Laoghaire Institute Of Art Design + Technology’s BA Art Programme and was an Erasmus student in Iceland’s University of the Arts, BA Fine Art Programme. Luke has exhibited in Rua Red, Pallas Projects/Studios, Claremorris Open Exhibition, Hafnarborg (The Hafnarfjördur Centre of Culture and Fine Art), Iceland and the IAA Dublin Control Tower for Fingal Culture Night (2019). His piece Chatroulette included a live stream performance as part of a solo show in K4 Galleri, Oslo Art Weekend (2019). He is a co-founder of cruxx.project an experimental curatorial platform that seeks to expand strategies for the dual presentation of work in both the physical and virtual environment and a member of the Douglas Hyde Gallery Student Forum III. He was awarded the Rua Red Art Prize in 2018’s Winter Open with a follow on solo show (My Activity) in the gallery in 2019. He was shortlisted for the RDS Visual Art Awards 2020 and was the recipient of the Ormond Art Studios, Graduate Residency Award (2020).

ENTER

Ormond Art Studios are pleased to present ‘u̷n̷r̷e̷c̷o̷g̷n̷i̷s̷a̷b̷l̷e̷(̷s̷p̷i̷l̷l̷w̷a̷y̷)̷’, the first solo exhibition by 2020 Graduate Residency Award recipient Luke van Gelderen. 

u̷n̷r̷e̷c̷o̷g̷n̷i̷s̷a̷b̷l̷e̷(̷s̷p̷i̷l̷l̷w̷a̷y̷)̷ focuses on digital image cultures and how mediated imagery is performed in ways that alter memory and the self. The infinite making and remaking of digital identities questions the possibility of true ‘authentic’ memory in the digital age. The aim is to question the role multinational technology companies play in how we view ourselves and whether networked environments drive compulsive self-obsession, ultimately blinding users to their own ends. 

Luke van Gelderen is a visual artist based in Dublin. He is a 2020 graduate of Dún Laoghaire Institute Of Art Design + Technology’s BA Art Programme and was an Erasmus student in Iceland’s University of the Arts, BA Fine Art Programme. His practice encompasses video, performance and sculpture, focusing on how digital image cultures are performed. Luke has exhibited in Rua Red, Pallas Projects/Studios, Claremorris Open Exhibition, Hafnarborg (The Hafnarfjördur Centre of Culture and Fine Art), Iceland and the IAA Dublin Control Tower for Fingal Culture Night (2019). He was awarded the Rua Red Art Prize in 2018’s Winter Open resulting in a solo show (My Activity) in the gallery in 2019. His piece Chatroulette included a live stream performance as part of a solo show in K4 Galleri, Oslo Art Weekend, 2019. He is a co-founder of cruxx.project an experimental curatorial platform inspired by a ring-fort in South Dublin that seeks to expand strategies for the dual presentation of work in both the physical and virtual environment. Luke is a member of the Douglas Hyde Gallery Student Forum III and has been shortlisted for the RDS Visual Art Awards 2020. 

To attend, please book a slot from the link below. Each slot is 20 minutes long and allows for the private viewing of the show for up to two people known to each other. Slot times are between 16:30 – 19:30.

Booking: https://calendly.com/ormondartstudios/u-n-r-e-c-o-g-n-i-s-a-b-l-e-s-p-i-l-l-w-a-y?month=2020-12
Facebook event link: https://fb.me/e/4W0BeRqWc