A series featuring audio responses by Kev Sheridan to Hang Tough Contemporary's art exhibition programme.

Hang Tough Contemporary's Exhibition Audio Responses by Kev Sheridan

'One hand clapping' by Katarzyna Gajewska
Hang Tough Contemporary
Mar 23—Apr 9 2023

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Kev Sheridan | Artist Statement 

As the artist's works are all done using only her hands, I wanted to mirror that by choosing acoustic sounds that are generated physically, rather than synthesised. The main instrument is a kalimba which is played with the thumbs. Glockenspiel, guitar and crash cymbal also feature.

Due to the recurring subject matters of women and storytelling in her work, I included the female voice, with many lines overlapping to create a more complex texture, like much of the works, without overloading the whole piece. This also complements the titles 'Voices' and 'Talking Heads'. In fact, all of the exhibited pieces' titles are included in the voice parts.

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Katarzyna Gajewska | Artist Statement

The title of this exhibition One Hand Clapping is derived from a kōan - a paradoxical word, phrase, or story used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the limits of logical thought and to bring about illumination. The kōan asks “We know the sound of two hands clapping. But what is the sound of one hand clapping?” Akin to a riddle, a kōan tires the mind as it attempts to ‘solve’ it. By exhausting one’s analytic intellect and the egotistic will, the mind is purged and thus creates space to embrace one’s intuition.

This body of work by Katarzyna Gajewska is the material manifestation of such a ‘purge’. Gajewska empties her mind onto the canvas, translating and transforming her intuitive thoughts into textured, tangible, organisms with a heightened sense of materiality. After 3 years of intensive painting transitioning from figurative to abstraction, Gajewska’s work is no longer bound by order, it is a meditation on both the artist’s inner and outer landscape, free from convention and grounded in the artist’s process of making the unconscious, conscious.

Hidden in her paintings are objects with sentimental resonance such as an electrocardiogram from an extended period in hospital and remnants of soil from the Ballinskelligs in Kerry. Although, colour truly is the protagonist in this body of work. It moves between each painting like a rapturous wave, imprinting abstract patterns upon the canvas. The artist treats colour as a language, each tone reflecting a word, expressing the artist’s story. One Hand Clapping surveys Gajewska’s innermost thoughts, revelations and shadows in a series of paintings that are underpinned by sincere vulnerability.

Kev Sheridan's audio response to Katarzyna Gajewska's 'One Hand Clapping' exhibition

'Dreamers' by Alana Barton
Hang Tough Contemporary
Apr 13—Apr 30 2023

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Kev Sheridan | Artist Statement

For this piece, a playful piano melody is set against dreamy melancholic synth chords, mirroring both the childlike innocence and deeper emotional landscape in the works. Glockenspiel helps to lend a music-box quality to the melody as it progresses, while bar chimes are used to add colour and increase the sense of wonder and surreal dreaminess.

Alana Barton | Artist Statement

“Most of our childhood is stored not in photos, but in certain biscuits, lights of day, smells, textures of carpet.”

― Alain de Botton

Some time ago, Barton was given a set of family photographs which provided the initial source of inspiration for this body of work. These objects offered a direct line to her family lineage and through the process of visual analysis, she began to pry and discern meaning from this collection of photographs. Through this research, Barton’s core interest emerges. In Dreamers she examines how complex emotions are captured in delicate gestures and expressions held by her sitters. She seeks to capture and communicate the pensive emotions of children, who are often not recognised as having rich emotional landscapes. She builds worlds around each child and honours the sometimes confusing and complex terrain of childhood.

Barton’s palette is surreal with neon and pastel hues merging with mature colours such as deep navy and subtle neutral tones. Her portraits are whimsical and playful whilst also grounded in a serious approach to portrait painting. The children have imagined identities, allowing anyone to project themself into the work.

Kev Sheridan's audio response to Alana Barton's 'Dreamers' exhibition

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