Connemara
5 October 2013 – 5 January 2014
Turner Contemporary, Margate
Inis Turk Snow, 2013, Archival pigment print [left]
Basking Shark Currach, 2013, Basking shark skin, wooden currach frame [right]
Tabernacle, 2013, Currach, shed, wood, roller blinds, mixed media, video
![Tabernacle, 2013 [detail]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec67b8b42b9b43d7012b9eb/1605196500082-F8E0928I6G2BYMXTFGYW/Tabernacle.jpg)
Tabernacle, 2013 [detail]
Everest Shark, 2013, Bronze
Family, 2005, Bronze
![Shell Grotto, 2013, video projection [still]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec67b8b42b9b43d7012b9eb/1609856933360-ON35KTINM58FUKVU88YQ/grotto-2-copy.jpg)
Shark Heart Submarine, 2011, Mixed Media
Connemara is an area on the west coast of Ireland edging the Atlantic Ocean.
The works in Connemara were not strictly about nature, perhaps a collaboration with nature. Many works involved things found on the shore: whale, shark and fractured-boat inhabited the space. Tabernacle stood at the centre of the show; an upturned currach created a roof for a shed-like structure. Darkening blinds formed the sides of Tabernacle and small benches lined up inside like a miniature cinema from which projected a video of a dark sea cave onto the opposite wall.
Shark Heart Submarine stood in a gallery hung with J.M.W Turner’s paintings of nature. It was a perfect placement for a 19th century easel with the patina of paint remaining on it. A model of a submarine sat on this easel, gilded with white-gold and holding the hidden heart of a shark within it. A heart that once beat in an animal that is very ancient and about which very little is known.
Everest Shark, Whale, Sapiens and Family occupied the floor. Another projected ‘doorway’ led through the back wall. The camera travelling through a shell Grotto long hidden underground in Margate, a series of tunnels lined with millions of sea shells built by an unknown maker.
List of works (click to expand)
Shell Grotto, 2013, Video Projection, Dimensions variable
Inis Turk Snow, 2013, Archival pigment print, 111.7 cm x 88.9 cm
Tabernacle, 2013, Currach, shed, wood, roller blinds, mixed media, video, 270 cm x 522 cm x 126 cm
Everest Shark, 2013, Bronze, 28 cm x 185 cm x 85 cm
Basking Shark Currach, 2013, Basking shark skin, wooden currach frame, 138 cm x 265 cm x 92 cm
Whale, 2011, Cuvier whale skeleton, cord, wood, rusted bucket and marble plinth, 700 cm / 275.6
Shark Heart Submarine, 2011, Mixed media, 520 x 80 cm, 91 cm x 6 cm
Family, 2005, Bronze, Dimensions variable
Searchlight (diptych), 2008, Archival pigment prints, 79 cm x 102 cm each
Insole, 2008, Cast bronze and found rubber boot, 8.5 cm x 29 cm x 11 cm
Foot and Boot, 2008, Cast bronze and found rubber boot, 27 cm x 24 cm x 30 cm
Skins, 2008, Cast bronze and found rubber fin, 8.5 cm x 29 cm x 11 cm
Little Boy Foot and Fin, 2008, Cast bronze and found rubber fin, 5 cm x 41 cm x 24cm
Sapiens, 2007, Cast bronze skull and antique brass tripod, 128 cm x 49 cm x 49 cm
Teacup, 1999, DVD, edition of 3 NTSC (3 min loop, 1hr duration), 4.4 cm x 7.8 cm
Foxglove 1, 2012, Bronze, 124 cm x 44 cm x 41cm
Travel Case, 2005, Victorian crocodile skin travel case, silver, glass, ivory &bronze, silver-plated crab, 34 cm x 56 cm x 16 cm
Whale Flower 1, 2010, Bronze, 123.5 cm x 52 cm x 36.5 cm
Whale Autopsy, 2007, Archival pigment print, 66 cm x 54.6 cm
Whale Graffiti, 2007, Archival pigment print, 66 cm x 54.6 cm
Mikey's House (diptych), 2013, Archival pigment prints, 40.6 cm x 35.5cm each
Lazy Beds, Killary Harbour, 2013, Archival pigment print, 71.1 cm x 58.4cm
Twelve Bens Autumn, 2013, Archival pigment print, 40.6 cm x 34 cm
Slyne Steps (diptych), 2013, Archival pigment prints, 111.7 cm x 81.2 cm each