Margaret Fitzgibbon: Do you see us, do you hear us?

Full description of the exhibition in English below

Irske Margaret Fitzgibbons udstilling Do you see us, do you hear us? består af seks collagepaneler, skabt på kraftigt Fabriano-bomuldspapir med en blanding af forskellige materialer som akvarel, trykoverførsel, sølvpapir, papir, stof, blyant, kul og blæk.

Udstillingen vil tilføje en ekstra stemme til kampen for lighed, rettigheder og hverdagsuretfærdigheder, set fra et kvindeligt perspektiv, der ofte bliver overset. De abstrakte figurative historier handler om at genopdage forbindelsen til gammel mytologi og skabe en holistisk tilværelse ved at være i kontakt med naturen og finde sin plads i verden. Dette tema formidles gennem gentagne billeder af kvindelige arme og hænder, der længes efter at skabe forbindelse.

Værkerne vækker blandede følelser som håb, frygt og forbindelse, der er påvirket af den aktuelle tid, vi lever i, herunder Covid-19-pandemien og krigen i Ukraine. Collagerne forsøger at formidle dybere, mere mystiske kræfter og udtrykke en følelse af optimisme midt i usikkerheden. De søger at finde en balance med den lidelse og ulighed, der altid har eksisteret og stadig gør det.

Billedkunstner Margaret Fitzgibbon anvender forskellige teknikker og materialer, fx storskala-installationer, skulptur, collage og tekstiler. Hendes proces er altid teknisk nøjagtig, men det endelige resultat ser ofte akavet ud for at antyde en følelse af skrøbelighed og spontanitet. De seneste år er hun vendt tilbage til tidlig surrealisme, tiltrukket af dets tilbagevendende princip om ‘den mærkelige skønhed i det uventede’.
Hun bor og arbejder i Dublin.

Mere om Margaret Fitzgibbon på margaretfitzgibbon.net

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This body of new work by Irish artist Margaret Fitzgibbon adds another voice to the increasing erosion of equality, rights and large and smaller everyday injustices mostly from a female often subjective perspective that is so often overlooked. The work presents abstract figurative stories about themes of reconnection with ancient mythology and holistic ways of crafting, relying on nature, making and belonging to survive – all conveyed through the repeated motif of female arms and hands that yearn to connect.

Movement, atmosphere and sense of place are important themes. The poetic titles of the work evoke the inner landscape of thoughts and emotions based on the artist’s own experiences and memories. These subjective responses are then cast into wider narratives, addressing prevalent contemporary concerns slipping between the symbolic and the everyday, the autobiographical and the collective, to form a kind of visual poetry.

The six horizontal collaged panels are created on heavy Fabriano cotton rag paper, using mixed media of water-colour, print-transfer, metal foil, paper, fabric, pencil, charcoal and inks. Fragmentary and cohesive at the same time, these delicate and intricate collages were conceived to contrast with the concrete surface of the foyer walls. The result of this wet and dry layering process is a series of six strangely atmospheric landscapes of images and colours that explore the idea of the many becoming one, with the one never fully resolved.

Godsbanen offers a space beyond the traditional visual arts gallery to engage civic and sustainable cultural and social exchange and this work is a celebration of that hope and impetus. The exhibition title is phrased as a question, drawing on primary senses of seeing and hearing, and the way we understand the world, shape our perspectives and how we are shaped by the things and events outside of ourselves. The poetic dream-like narrative titles and the stories they seem to tell prompt us to consider our own personal story – the stories that we live by and that have shaped us, and the time we live by and the times we live within – the days roll into years, rolling into decades, the seed brings forth new stories, new forms, a moment on this earth, a lifetime in the beholder.

The resulting work invokes a mix of universal but contradictory emotions like Hope, Fear and Connectivity that are influenced by the specific, communal time we have all experienced lately i.e – Covid Pandemic and the war in Ukraine. These collages set out to channel deeper, more mystic powers to find a language to express a sense of optimism while living with/in such uncertainty, to find a truce with this wider world of suffering and inequality that are constant and ancient.

Margaret Fitzgibbon is a visual artist who employs a number of techniques and materials i.e large-scale installations; sculpture; collage and textiles. Her art process is always technically exact however the final results often look awkward to suggest a sense of fragility and spontaneity. Drawing underpins her practice and in the last few years she’s turned to early Surrealism, drawn to its recurring principle of ‘the strange beauty in the unexpected’.
She lives and works in Dublin.

Edited by Dr Jennifer Fitzgibbon

More about Margaret Fitzgibbon at margaretfitzgibbon.net