BIFPA 2023
March 20-24thBelfast International Festival of Performance Art Northern Ireland's leading showcase of contemporary performance art, showcasing the best Irish and international performance artists to local and visiting audiences.
‘An Absence’, Durational performance, 2 hours, charcoal, canvas and floodlight.
This performance was the continutation of an experimentation with performance in March 2022. The original piece took influence from Plato's allegory of the cave; in which the shadow represented a fake truth or an illusion of reality. Using charcoal, water and tempera paint, I attemped to outline or contain my shadow. An attempt to cement or control my reality, which was not and could not be achieved. In this performance peice, I once again attempted to capture my shadow. This time the performance was exploring, how to capture the presence of absense, the trace of a loss. I simplified the materials to canvas and charcoal.
Images c/o Dr Sandra Johnston.
fine thanks
Opening 2nd February 2023- Late Night Art.Flax Project Space, Belfast
Group exhibition
2nd - 12th February 2023
' Join us at Flax Project Space for 'Fine Thanks’, opening between 6.00-9.00pm on Thursday 2nd February as part of Belfast’s Late-Night Art. Opening hours: 12-4pm Thursday, Friday, and Saturday until 11th February. On behalf of the Flax Art Studios Emerging Artists (FASE) programme we present the third in our new six month program in the North Street Project Space. ‘Fine Thanks’ showcases a collaborative video artwork by four of the FASE HUB artists. Featuring a blend of internet clips, including animal videos, Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, and renditions of Beethoven, ‘Fine Thanks’ invites you to step into the simultaneous comfort and chaos of living online. Somewhat surreal, somewhat stupid, what emerges is a dizzying digital collage. '
Time
Flax Project Space, Belfast
Group exhibition.
19th - 28th January 2023
‘On behalf of the Flax Art Studios Emerging Artists (FASE) programme we present the second in our new six month program in the North Street Project Space. TIME featuring work by FASE artists Charlie Beare, Katharine Paisley, David Younglove, Zoe Meeks, Stephanie Tanney, John Connolly and Hattie Godfrey. Curated by Jennifer Alexander
TIME marks the start of the new year from the FASE HUB artists and we will have a list of events to follow.’
‘And you’ll’, photograph, audio and text, February 2023.
This piece, is the beginning of a body of work exploring grief, rural communities and small family farms. It signifies a large change within my practice as its the first time I’ve worked through a personal experience within my work.
Between shadows, shadows.
Exhibited at Platform Arts, Belfast as part of ‘Control Room’.
Katharine Paisley, Performance Art, March 2022.
In her first experimentation with performance art, 'Between shadows, shadows.' Paisley takes influence from Plato's allegory of the cave; in which a shadow represents a fake truth or an illusion of reality. Using charcoal, water and tempera paint, she tries to outline or contain her shadow. An attempt to cement or control her reality, which is not and cannot be achieved.
Images courtesy of Chloe Austin
Control Room
Platform Gallery, Belfast
Duo ShowIn this collaborative exhibition, Katharine Paisley and Phil Keers join together to explore concepts of control and reality. The exhibition consists of painting, sculpture, installation, film, text and audio works. The title, ‘Control Room’ reflects how the audience will experience the works; in some works they can control how they engage, in some they can only exercise their influence and in other work they will be completely outside both control and reality. The works in the exhibition are heavily influenced by mythology, supersition and philosophy.
In her works, 'One for sorrow, two for joy...', Katharine explores the idea of superstitions; inherited beliefs that we can choose to believe or not. In the case of belief, these superstitions have complete control over a person's good or bad fortune.
In her first experimentation with performance art, 'Between shadows, shadows.' Paisley takes influence from Plato's allegory of the cave; in which a shadow represents a fake truth or an illusion of reality. Using charcoal, water and tempera paint, she tries to outline or contain her shadow. An attempt to cement or control her reality, which is not and cannot be achieved.
In each of Keers' work featured, he explores the idea of objects or beings born from the subconscious. The sculpture 'Burden'; a large boulder made from a wire structure and modrock plaster bandage, represents emotional baggage or lived trauma. The boulder is wrapped in chains made from clay representing the shackles of your own making. The inescapable weight of reality, further referencing Plato's allegory of the cave.
In the installation 'Black Dogs', Phil explores his experience of learning to understand his own Mental Health and more specifically his experience of suffering from Depression, having been diagnosed with the disorder in his early 20s. "The older that I get, the more I realise that I have to come to peace with how my brain works. I have to learn to live with it. Depression isn't something that I think will ever go away completely, and so it sits there angrily. Waiting for the moment to take hold again."
In their collaborative piece, Keers and Paisley invite the viewer to interact and see themselves within the work. 'Not Empty, FULL', attempts to capture the emotional response to a harsh and unfair reality.
Images courtesy of Chloe Austin