Curios About: Connections by Adelle Hickey

Connections
Adelle Hickey
Ink on A2 textured 300-gram Fabriano (paper)

1. This work is about . . . a synergy between designs based on a narrative and print making. Garment structures are central to the work, imaged using a hand-crafted technique of printing-making. Taking on a new role, the garment becomes a portrait to recognise and capture what is felt as well as what is seen. Based on the premise that surface appearances often mask what is deeply felt, the garments are momentarily removed from the body to reflect upon a  specific narrative and language.

2. I made this work because . . . of emigration. My sister emigrated when I was 16. I missed her so much. The use of specific materials through fabrics and inks create fragile atmospheres, perhaps to suggest that a wisp of our experiences remains continually with us or a piece of us is constantly emerging or slowly ebbing away. The narrative is at once singular and universal.

3. I hope when people see this work they will . . . relate to the physical and emotional reality of the work and the narrative. Emigration is an integral part of Irish history. Every family, household, village, town, and city has lost countless individuals to foreign shores. We are left with photographic memories of children in little dresses or adults in clothing from a past era.

4. In terms of art history, this work . . . Irish history deals with powerful memories. Ghost towns, crumbling houses and walls, graveyards, stories, and photographs recall people who had to leave.

5. You can see my work . . .  on my Facebook page.

Curios About is a series featuring works by Dublin artists, curated for us by our friends at the Square in the Circle blog, and hosted there as well as here.

Each artist is asked to submit an image of one work and answer a set of questions about it. We’d love it if you’d submit something you’ve made.