30th October - 23 November 2021
Hyde Bridge
Sligo

‘Where we collide’, an exhibition by Sligo based artist Kari Cahill. This process-led body of work invites viewers to experience natural landscapes through the lens of abundant colour locked within ecosystems that are now, or once were, submerged by the ocean.

‘Where we collide’ presents the collaboration between the artist, the studio, and the natural environment through two and three dimensional artworks. Geological land formations that have been shaped by the surge of the sea, tectonic plains that have risen from deep below surface level, and aquatic-ecosystems that are sustained by the changing tides provide the Sligo landscapes where Cahill gathers colour. Approaching the studio as an experimental laboratory Cahill employs processes that are informed by the elemental forces present in the landscape. Heat, pressure and water allow the artist to synthesise organic matter such as limestone, algae and urchins into pigment, paint and ink.

Beyond documenting her process, this body of work opens a dialogue between the artist, the materials, and the landscape. Cahill buries canvas underground allowing the landscape to imprint itself upon the material. She drips, pours and blushes colour onto paper and glass, allowing the hues to soak and blend across the surface. As her colours seep into the fibres of the pages they settle into their own rhythm, as they do in nature. The expressive artworks, seen as a whole, are gentle and balanced. Dappled textures are contrasted against precious details. Viewed up close, the alchemic reactions of the natural pigment echo that of the shoreline’s ecosystem, ultimately creating a keen sense of the environments to which the works respond. ‘Where we collide’ oscillates between scientific alchemy and intuitive mark-making, showcasing a deep material enquiry into oceanic ecosystems and the elemental forces at play in these landscapes.

I was given the opportunity to install ‘Red Canopy’ in the forest at Another Love Story Festival at Killyon Manor.

The twisting roots and branches of the trees are echoed in the painted strokes, constantly moving upward towards the forest canopy. Immeditately the red hues of the pieces drew out the red tones of the soil. I use gestural movements to react to spaces. I pour, drip, scrape, blush and bruise colour onto the surface of my paintings. Layering textures becomes a way to investigate the relationship between hues and tones. Colours emerge directly from the environment dictating the palette I work with. Colour asks to be seen. The simple application of colour to a surface is nuanced, bridges the gap in our relationship to the environments we inhabit.

The audience moved through the installation guided by their curiosity to keep discovering colours through the disruption of painted surfaces. They were invited to come closer and move around to enjoy the negative space between the trees and the works.

To read more about my process and thought on this artwork head over to my notes.

A site-responsive project on Arannmore Island off the coast of Donegal by Lay of the Land.

Island culture is rooted in the idea that the land has always provided. From the depths of the bogland to the far reaches of the sea there are stories in every nook and cranny. Stories that honour the natural resources abundant in the landscape and encapsulate the industrious nature of islanders.

Sparked by the “community within communities” aspect of Arranmore Island and the unifying force of shared heritage, Lay of the Land invited 4 artists to create an art piece that encapsulates these elements of island life.

We spent two weeks in residence on the island gathering plant material, learning old ways of bygone industries, and engaging with the rich heritage of Arranmore. Through storytelling, conversations with locals and research we captured and catalogued our findings using a travelling lab, enlivening the connection between culture and land.

Over the exhibition, the residents of Arranmore were invited to come and share their knowledge and experiences while engaging with the exhibition of inks and dyes created directly from the landscape. Between the community 250 unique paintings were created over 3 days.

Each contribution was marked by the gesture of tying a knot, thus creating a collective art piece that signifies shared experiences. The knot-piece was left on the island along with an archive of the inks and dyes created.

Over three weeks in Floripa I produced a body of work that investigates “the landscape of experience” of the East Coast of Brazil through the lens of how the Atlantic Ocean has shaped and moulded both the physical topography and the human experience of the land. The work that examined the differences and similarities of two distinct locations, who share an ocean.  The series of paintings I created combined colours, textures and marks to formed a vocabulary which expressed my discovery of the geography and perspectives of Brazil. The residency gave me time to critically engage with artists pursuing work that pushes the boundaries of how we perceive our landscapes. 

To read more about this exhibition, and the research and development of the ideas that led to the work, head over to my notes

SILVA, Knockomagh Wood Nature Reserve, Lough Hyne, West Cork.

Sept 2018

 Rising from the autumn earth up through the negative space between these ancient trees. The contrasting colour brings attention to the richness of the moss covered flora. These works are visual interpretations of the experience of the site on Knockomagh Hill; mirroring the twisted branches and sparks of light thrown between the leaves.

As the viewer moves around the piece the works appear to dance between the trees.

Stretched Canvas, Acrylic Paint, Spray Paint, Eyelets, Builders Twine, Rebar.

Perspex Mirror, Timber Frame. Sky. Land. 

TOMBOLO, Brow Head, Mizen Peninsula, West Cork.

September 2017

Drawing from light and colour studies made during my time on Brow Head I created an elliptical structure from farming posts which sat in the middle of the “steep side of the hill” overlooking the cusp of brow head. The posts highlighted the topography of the terrain underfoor and the shape of the piece invited the audeince to wander around it. As they did, they experienced the posts changing colour, mirroring the changing colours of the headland at sunset.

The title was taken from John Montague’s poem “Windharp”.

Fencing Posts, Paint, Rebar, Galvaband.

Land Flutes was created collaboratively by Kari Cahill, Anna Wylie, Margie Jean Lewis, Hazel Mc Cague, Emily Robyn Archer and Liliane Puthod. 

Inspired by the wind singing through agricultural steel gates on site the artists set abut creating a sound sculpture that would play the wind vanes. 

Steel Piping. 

Sisters was created collaboratively by Kari Cahill, Anna Wylie, Margie Jean Lewis, Hazel Mc Cague, Emily Robyn Archer and Liliane Puthod as part of TOMBOLO, 2016.

Repurposing agricultural by-products, debris and discarded farm materials the artists created a majestic sculpture that honoured the landscape and harked back to notions of celtic warrior women. 

Oxidised Steel Tubing, Discarded Tractor Parts, Steel Stakes.  

Shannon River + The Milk Market // Limerick 

Date // August 2012

Photos // Katie Mooney-Sheppard

Produced as a piece for Gracelands 2012, the closing ceremony of EVA Limerick. Recently having lost the Vicar Street space, Basic Space set about building a vessel in order to lay claim to the waterways and project a future space for their plans and operations.

BASIC SPACE Shop launched in the NCAD Gallery on the 26th of March 2012 as part of the New Ecologies of Practice Programme. 

Merchandise, Memorabilia, limited Edition Collectibles, and an opportunity to be involved in our "Sq. Ft. Scheme" were all up for grabs.

A temporary shop showcasing a false representation of the existing Basic Space Contemporary Art Space. The Project aimed to question the value of ‘Works’ once they have been reappropriated in a commercial setting, challenging the Gallery model as means of exhibition.

TOMBOLO, Brow Head, Mizen Peninsula, West Cork.

Sept 2016

Reflections of the sky laid out on the ground.

Perspex Mirror, Timber Frame. Sky. Land. 

TOMBOLO, Brow Head, Mizen Peninsula, West Cork. 

Refractions sits on Marconi's orginal telegraph site on the wild atlantic headland overlooking Crookhaven, Brow Head Cliffs and the Fastnet Lighthouse. By contemporary Irish artist Kari Cahill.

Refracting and reflecting the autumn sunrise + sunset each day. 

Angle Iron, 6mm Glass, Moss, Air. 

Curated + Participated

Dig +53° 20' 31.02", -6° 16' 39.97"

White Tiles, Grout, Earth

Underground // An Exhibition of Works Below Surface Level // Basic Space Warehouse // Vicar Street // Dublin 8.

December 2011

An Objective was arrived at by the 9 participating Artists;To each create a site-specific work which engages with the underground.

Through the process of digging I found myself thinking of the past of the site which is now just a shell of a building.I was interested in the physicality of the platform created by going under the surface. I wanted to pare this down. Using simple white tiles to suggest both the simple grid system of archaeological digs, with lines facing North, East, South and West, and the presence of something that may have existed here before I have situated my hole into it's own platform of possible context and history. 

Participating Artists: Sara Amido - Kari Cahill - Peter Donnellan - Michael Fitzgerald - Greg Howie - Andreas Kindler von Knobloch - John Ryan - Daniel Tuomey - Tom David Watt

An Exhibition of Works Below Surface Level is‘The most thought-provoking, critical and crucial Exhibition to occur in Dublin for some time’

-James Merrigan, Billion Art Journal.

‘It should serve as a benchmark and as a catalyst for further critically engaged production by young irish artists nationally. The bar has been raised.’

-Francis Wasser, Critical Bastards.

BA (Hons) Fine Art 2012 // Those Who Live In Glass Houses Shouldn’t.

Angle Iron, Iron Plates, Steel Rigging, 6mm Glass, 6mm Mirror, Salt, Duck Feathers.

This work is engaged with ideas of measurement – how something, tangible or not, is gauged. The transition from the arbitrary position to the loaded one (for instance from thesis to antithesis through an active space between them both) is the point in which the measurement becomes important and begins to question the process of measurement itself.

I have created a set of scales, made in a formalist aesthetic which reflects the surroundings of the device, which both records and measure the change that happens for the duration of the piece.

51°26'52.7"N 9°46'18.6"W
Brow Head. West Cork. December 2016