Crawford art students: 3 profiles of graduates producing work that's personal and profound
Work by Margaret Varian, Aoife Nolan, and Przemyslaw Richter feature in the graduates' exhibition at Cork's MTU Crawford College of Art. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan
Human beings' primal need for connection, the effects of breast loss on one’s sense of womanhood, and the omnipresence of biometrics in our modern lives.
These are just some of the themes explored by this year’s cohort of MTU Crawford College of Art and Design graduates.
Margaret Varian’s work deals with the physiological and physical effects of breast loss on one’s sense of womanhood. The Ballyphehane native's work used her own body as a tool to explore the physical impacts of mastectomy.
“I first got cancer nearly 13 years ago now,” she says, “I had the first mastectomy in 2009.”
“Even though breast cancer is what caused the loss of my breast, my work is not about cancer, it is about the significance of the breast and the psychological and the physiological effects that the loss of them has on a woman.
“Breasts are the most obvious identifier of your gender. You don't realize the effect they have until you lose one, or both.”
Varian, who is a stage four cancer patient and completed her studies while undergoing treatment, says the loss of one's breasts can cause you to question “your femininity, your sexual identity."
"It can cause you to view yourself as less than."
The 59-year-old, who lost the use of her right arm in the midst of her studies, says millions of women are affected by the loss or reconstruction of their breasts and she hopes her work will resonate widely.
“Everybody is touched by breast cancer. And it's a subject that — I won't say it's taboo, but it's generally not a subject that is explored in art. But millions of women are affected by this. It needs to be out there.”
Varian, who first started art college back in 1980 but dropped out after her foundation year as “life got in the way” said returning to college in her 50s has been a dream come true.
“I used to walk in the gates of the college and think how lucky am I at this stage of my life, to be able to fulfill a dream and get a qualification in what I absolutely love.
“You suddenly realize that the work you did all along didn't mean anything compared to what that feeling is of being allowed to wallow in something that you completely and utterly love.”
https://www.instagram.com/margaret.varian/
Aoife Nolan, who grew up in Navan but has been in Cork for 30 years, explores the primal human need for connection and belonging in her work.
"Life is so hectic and stressful for many of us,” she says. “We have so many external stressors — deadlines, finances, family commitments — it's easy to lose your sense of self, the connection you have with yourself.”
“It [can seem] very bourgeoisie, an indulgent luxury, to stay connected with yourself — but it’s essential.”
Nolan, who has a background in fashion, costume and bridal design, values the sense of connection we have with planet earth — which she envisions as our collective ‘mother’ in her art.
“Our society and our culture are structured to view our planet as a resource with a bottomless pit of materials for us to plunder. In my work I view Earth as our mother. We depend on a functioning ecosystem to meet our most basic needs. Culturally, instead of being mindful of that, we view Earth as a commodity instead of our home."
Nolan endeavoured to use all-natural materials where possible to create her work, even using harvested rainwater to clean her paint brushes.
"All of the work began its life outside,” she says. "There's one called Searching which began life on Garrettstown beach— I used burnt wood that I found on the beach and ground it up in a pestle and mortar."
In other works, she used copper because it's present both in the soil and in human tissue.
"So it's connecting the human to Mother Earth. I corroded the copper with vinegar, salt and iodine to make green ink, and I used copper leaf. The ink is the human tissue and the copper leaf is the soil.”
Nolan has been inundated with offers of residencies in recent weeks and says she is “overwhelmed” by the support.
“The reaction on opening night was amazing,” she says. “There was one woman that came along to view [my exhibition] and she got really emotional and said it made her think of her connection with her own mother who has Alzheimer's and she could see the void in the center of the work as her mother's lost memory, and the circles around as how she is surrounded by the love of her family.
“I hope my work connects to people,” she says, “and that it is uplifting, motivating or comforting to others."
https://www.instagram.com/aoife_nolan_
Przemyslaw Richter’s work focuses on biometrics — the measurement and statistical analysis of people's unique physical and behavioral characteristics. Biometric authentication is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used to identify individuals under surveillance.
Richter, who primarily has been painting and drawing throughout his four-year art degree, says his final year project came from his fascination with the positive and negative aspects of modern technology.
“Everyone has a unique code that cannot be replaced or copied, which has become an individual's key in modern technology,” he explains.
“I find it interesting that we have these small, microscopic patterns in our body that we can't control,” he says, adding that it is “crazy” that the use of biometric technology has become so pervasive in our lives we don’t even “recognise it” anymore. It's just a part of our lives.”
The 24-year-old says his work — which uses metal sculptures of the eye iris and a video of a close-up of an eye — is designed to bring our attention to these microscopic patterns.
Originally from Poland, Richter has been based in Cashell, Co Tipperary for the past 14 years — and says he chose MTU Crawford College of Art and Design because he wanted to live in Cork.
“It was between Limerick and Cork.. But I just want to be based in Cork for a while,” he laughs.
He plans to stay put for now and continue to experiment with sculpture and video.
https://www.instagram.com/shamr0ock
- MTU Crawford College of Art and Design Graduate Exhibitions 2022 run in Bishopstown Campus (Creative Digital Media + Visual Communications) and in Sharman Crawford Street Campus (Contemporary Applied Art + Fine Art) up to June 9
