Clodagh Emoe. I Am Here Somewhere

Emerging artist Clodagh Emoe's first solo show opens at Temple Bar Gallery and Studios on 1st March. Emoe works in an array of media and material; her exhibition I Am Here Somewhere comprises drawing, video and mixed media that play with the impossibility of trying to comprehend the vast and awesome universe. An exhibition of several parts, I Am Here Somewhere references the subliminal state: sublime meaning the quality of transcendent greatness where fear and awe reside.

Research plays a fundamental role in Emoe's art making. By examining scientific and critical theory she endeavours to make sense of the world around us and our place in it. Disorientation is the state of lacking the common navigational tools by which to locate and anchor oneself in a safe, familiar place. Fear becomes manifest as this position subliminally brings our awareness to that which we would prefer to ignore: the unknown, the void. In her most recent work, Emoe often deploys the device of the map to investigate our attempts to give meaning and shape to our precarious situation in the universe. Applying obsessive activities, similar to those of the medieval cartographer, Emoe tries to navigate known and unknown territories. In her finely crafted and intricate pencil drawings no space is left unchartered and at some point the drawings shift, as the pencil marks seem to spiral out of control. Her inventive sculptural objects have a low-tech quality and by exposing their method of production the attempts to establish a foothold in the flux is made evident.

Using imagery associated with space exploration, mountaineering and epistemological studies as metaphors in her drawings and sculptural objects, Emoe articulates her inner thoughts and desires. Her clever reworking of Yves Klein's famous Leap into the Void captures the intrinsic tension of the exhibition: the desire to succumb to the sublime while simultaneously exposing the constraints of the human condition. Balancing between the romantic and the ridiculous I Am Here Somewhere offers a compelling and unique view of the universe and life.

Clodagh Emoe (b. Dublin) is currently participating in the Artists Residency Programme at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA). Forthcoming projects for 2006, include Metaphysical Longings, an event/installation at Pallas Heights, Dublin and I Am Somewhere Here at the Process Room at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA). The latter project is informed by her exhibition at Temple Bar Gallery and Studios and her residency at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA). In addition, Clodagh Emoe will have a two-person exhibition at the Rubicon Gallery and has been awarded the residency at the Banff Centre, Canada by the Arts Council and will travel there in August 2006.

Clodagh Emoe. I Am Here Somewhere

artists:
Clodagh Emoe

curators:
Noel Kelly