Statement:
An awareness of the aesthetic characteristics and psychological effect of technology is central to my multidisciplinary practice. The final form the work takes is varied but it is always informed by the technical processes of software (both proprietary and custom-built). I see the operational logic of digital technology as sharing properties with the modernist version of collage of the early twentieth century. The descendants of the push and pull of dimensions of Analytic Cubism can be seen in the “layers” of programs such as Photoshop and After Effects. Such “montage of discontinuity” can also be seen in the layering of windows that clutter the average desktop screen. The ubiquitous “drop-shadow” effect can be seen as a symbol of what William Gibson termed the “consensual hallucination” that characterises much of our interaction with technology.
Such pervasive illusionism has lead to a distrust in vision. As we know, in the digital world seeing is no longer believing.
My practice is concerned with the boundaries of what is considered 'real' in contemporary culture. I explore these boundaries through the techniques and theories of translation. Translation from the virtual to the physical and back again; from low culture to high culture; from the internal to the external. I am interested in the meanings gained and lost along the way of these journeys.
I often take as my starting point imagery associated with a particular format and context; playing against these associations through the translation of the imagery into unexpected forms. By altering the quality of information and emotional impact with the medium, I seek to expose how our understanding of imagery is dependent on context.
Education:
National College of Art and Design, Dublin. 2009-2011
MA Art in the Digital World (Fine Art Media)
Edinburgh College of Art 2004-2008
BA Visual Communication (Illustration)
Contact:
werdnah19@gmail.com
(+353) 86 3027325