Aoife Barrett: Show Time!!

During September 2011 I had my first solo exhibition at the Backwater Studios. Below are a few select images from it.

Exhibition Statement

Lost and Found 2011 16^th September - 2^nd October

Aoife Barrett graduated with a BA Honors Degree in Fine Art Printmaking from Limerick School of Art and Design (2010). She also holds a BA Honors Degree in Archaeology from the University College of Cork (2006).

Since graduation she has exhibited in a number of group shows including A4 Printmakers, The Poly Arts Centre, Cornwall (2011), The Woman Factor, The Back Loft, Dublin (2011), Impressions, Galway Arts Centre, Galway (2010), The RDS Student Art Awards, Dublin (2010) and Limerick Printmakers Print Exhibition (2010).

Awards received include South Tipperary Emerging Artist Award (2011), Cork Printmakers Twelve Month Bursary (2010), Fine Art Travel Bursary, Horwath Bastow Charleton, Limerick (2010), RDS Printmaking Award (shared) (2010).

My work explores the idea of what Jean Arp called the “secret soul of things”. I combine and layer 3D installations, photography and prints, exploring the concept of objects as a container and symbol for our actions, experiences and memories. All materials worked by human hands recount something about themselves and about us, to where connected ideas emerge. I use the cast-offs of society to construct the unregulated yet vibrant expressiveness of the human being to personalise space and to create a visible inner world.

As an archaeologist I have always been interested in the role of archaeology and history in building an image of the past and how that effects the present. When we discover something that once belonged to somebody else, even something mundane, we use it to tell us something about that society as a whole. As an artist I am more concerned with the individual.

I use words, combined with found objects and images of tents, boxes, books and other material things to connect to thoughts and emotions in the past. These ideas demonstrate the role of the archaeologist who tries to grasp the human meanings that were held to artefacts, searching for traces of the human mind in the archaeological record.