MICHAEL WALSH: Contemporary Conversation
BERMUDA N AT I O N A L GALLERY
Michael Walsh
Contemporary Conversation
January 23 - May 31, 2014
M I C H A E L WA L S H : C o n t e m p o r a r y C o n v e r s a t i o n Bermudian Michael Walsh uses his artwork as a tool to explore philosophical perspectives. He is interested in discussion that moves away from singular interpretation, from understandings that have limitations, and from ways of knowing that are rooted in singularities. He is interested in complex questions, like: Who am I? His responses strive to move beyond the simple answer: I am not you. “The original goal of my work was to discover context. I believe that there is an inherent isolation in being human, because we comprehend in terms of contrast. You know who you are, because you are not me, because you are different and separate from everything around you...This sense of isolation drove me to look for what was communal. The challenge intrinsic to uncovering our relationship to the universe is that we cannot see past our individual perspectives. What we think is the real world is only our perception of it. We are only capable of knowing only what we believe.” While exploring these notions of contradiction and ‘nothingness’, Walsh’s work is heavy with meditative elements. Founded in Nothing is an installation of almost 800 cardboard houses on wire stilts arranged in a way that imitates the contour of the land around a river; the audience moves through the installation as though along the path of the river. He says of this work: “This piece is fundamental to the core motivation of my practice. The root of my work is the classification of how we contend with the fragility and impermanence of our lives. We create our lives (we build our homes) on a fluid, tenuous path that leads inexorably to death. The pioneer spirit that is necessary to brave a life of uncertainty is an ideal that is commonly regarded as historical. It is my argument, the argument of ‘Founded in Nothing’, that this pioneer spirit is the expression of our humanity; humanity is the courage to live.” Founded in Nothing, 2014, cardboard and steel (sketch). Cover page: Michael Walsh, Mine, 2013, plywood.
We Did Nothing is a mixed media sculpture of a nesting doll charred by fire and impaled by iron spikes. For some, this piece is reminiscent of a Congo nail fetish, which is a ritual piece deemed to have powerful forces that communicate to the worlds of the living and dead. While the fetish has a dynamic quality of communication, for Walsh the sculpture is a “shadow of an event”, a discarded remnant of a relationship. He says of the work: “Sharing ourselves is an invasion, knowing someone is a violation.” With this, the nails and the burning take on a new perspective. Walsh feels that it is his artistic obligation to challenge perspectives. The sculpture Mine is a hollow wooden ball with a white We did Nothing, 2012, plywood, iron and fire. picket fence enclosing an opening. Here he comments on “the futility of possession.” The fence, symbolic of property, wealth, power, or knowledge, is a mere “frame surrounding our lives, segregating us from and obscuring our view of the void.” Walsh graduated with an MFA from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee University. He is an art teacher at the Bermuda College. His artwork is also featured at the BNG East, St. George’s location in a group exhibition entitled A Sense of Place.
One Fathom, 2000, stone and water (photographic documentation).
Founded in Nothing (detail), 2014, cardboard and steel.
BERMUDA NATIONAL GALLERY City Hall & Arts Centre, Hamilton, Bermuda www.bng.bm (441) 295-9428 [email protected]
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Join us at the Bermuda National Gallery East, Bridge House, 1 Bridge Street, St George’s
OPEN: MON - FRI 10 am - 4 pm SAT 10am - 2 pm FREE ADMISSION
Michael Walsh
Contemporary Conversation
January 23 - May 31, 2014
M I C H A E L WA L S H : C o n t e m p o r a r y C o n v e r s a t i o n Bermudian Michael Walsh uses his artwork as a tool to explore philosophical perspectives. He is interested in discussion that moves away from singular interpretation, from understandings that have limitations, and from ways of knowing that are rooted in singularities. He is interested in complex questions, like: Who am I? His responses strive to move beyond the simple answer: I am not you. “The original goal of my work was to discover context. I believe that there is an inherent isolation in being human, because we comprehend in terms of contrast. You know who you are, because you are not me, because you are different and separate from everything around you...This sense of isolation drove me to look for what was communal. The challenge intrinsic to uncovering our relationship to the universe is that we cannot see past our individual perspectives. What we think is the real world is only our perception of it. We are only capable of knowing only what we believe.” While exploring these notions of contradiction and ‘nothingness’, Walsh’s work is heavy with meditative elements. Founded in Nothing is an installation of almost 800 cardboard houses on wire stilts arranged in a way that imitates the contour of the land around a river; the audience moves through the installation as though along the path of the river. He says of this work: “This piece is fundamental to the core motivation of my practice. The root of my work is the classification of how we contend with the fragility and impermanence of our lives. We create our lives (we build our homes) on a fluid, tenuous path that leads inexorably to death. The pioneer spirit that is necessary to brave a life of uncertainty is an ideal that is commonly regarded as historical. It is my argument, the argument of ‘Founded in Nothing’, that this pioneer spirit is the expression of our humanity; humanity is the courage to live.” Founded in Nothing, 2014, cardboard and steel (sketch). Cover page: Michael Walsh, Mine, 2013, plywood.
We Did Nothing is a mixed media sculpture of a nesting doll charred by fire and impaled by iron spikes. For some, this piece is reminiscent of a Congo nail fetish, which is a ritual piece deemed to have powerful forces that communicate to the worlds of the living and dead. While the fetish has a dynamic quality of communication, for Walsh the sculpture is a “shadow of an event”, a discarded remnant of a relationship. He says of the work: “Sharing ourselves is an invasion, knowing someone is a violation.” With this, the nails and the burning take on a new perspective. Walsh feels that it is his artistic obligation to challenge perspectives. The sculpture Mine is a hollow wooden ball with a white We did Nothing, 2012, plywood, iron and fire. picket fence enclosing an opening. Here he comments on “the futility of possession.” The fence, symbolic of property, wealth, power, or knowledge, is a mere “frame surrounding our lives, segregating us from and obscuring our view of the void.” Walsh graduated with an MFA from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee University. He is an art teacher at the Bermuda College. His artwork is also featured at the BNG East, St. George’s location in a group exhibition entitled A Sense of Place.
One Fathom, 2000, stone and water (photographic documentation).
Founded in Nothing (detail), 2014, cardboard and steel.
BERMUDA NATIONAL GALLERY City Hall & Arts Centre, Hamilton, Bermuda www.bng.bm (441) 295-9428 [email protected]
.
.
Join us at the Bermuda National Gallery East, Bridge House, 1 Bridge Street, St George’s
OPEN: MON - FRI 10 am - 4 pm SAT 10am - 2 pm FREE ADMISSION
