Mixed Media Installation: Layers of hand stitched textile from used women’s clothes, salvaged chair, paint, salvaged tiles, moulded concrete block, pink shirt, mug, iron, salvaged ironing board, red mop handles, pink clothes line, empty mop bucket, kitchen tap, concrete house blocks

Under normal circumstances victims of abuse have difficulty in navigating the perils of the domestic space; where within its perimeter the protection offered is just an illusion and instead of a safe haven its inhabitants are filled with distress and torment and forced to participate as unwilling protagonists in everyday nightmares. These contemptuous surroundings smother the intellect and force the mind to question its own sanity. Under lockdown these difficulties have been heightened and exacerbated existing abuse within the home. The victim has no respite from the abuse if the abuser is at home because of restrictions. Lady Caterpillar is fashioned from suffocating layers of hand-stitched fabric constructed from up-cycled female clothes; these layers are suspended from two crisscrossed mops emulating a puppeteers control over its puppet. The puppet acts as a metaphor for the control the abuser has over their victim. Lady Caterpillar reflects on the strength and endurance of a woman as she overcomes oppression on a daily basis.

Cleary’s work embraces societal concerns and becomes a symbol of ‘the now’; it’s a visual response to the strength and determination of the female in her ongoing fight for emancipation within a patriarchal sphere. The concept behind the work derives from trauma and coercion associated with domestic abuse aiming to move exploitation out of its taboo area and open it up to an area of discourse. Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the rise of domestic violence cases reported; restrictions have exacerbated preexisting conditions of abuse.Her work attempts to create a thoughtful dialogue through careful re-fashioning of materials, a selective use of colour and a combination of light to draw the viewer into a disturbing domestic circumference. Recently she has introduced textiles into her working methodology, these textile pieces incorporate hand-sewn patches representative of a traditional craft typically associated with women. This method of stitching is an arduous process culminating in months of painstaking work and symbolizes the determination of the female as she tirelessly battles against continued patriarchal injustice.Cleary hopes to advance her practice by making textiles an integral part of the work combining it with reconstructed found objects and elements of light to communicate themes of oppression. Her most recent piece ‘Lady Caterpillar’ was constructed from suffocating layers of hand-stitched fabric suspended from two mop handles, emulating a puppeteer’s control. With each layer she gets stronger shedding her patriarchal constraints, the caterpillar symbolizes that journey to freedom, just as the caterpillar leaves its cocoon to become a butterfly so too does the female battling ongoing coercion and control to take ownership over her own life. This journey by her is not an easy one; ‘Lady Caterpillar’ celebrates the strength and endurance of women as they overcome misogyny and repression.

Lady Caterpillar

Medium: Mixed Media Sculpture: DreamCatcher, Salvaged Drawers, salvaged bedframe, salvaged tiles, carpet, wood, paint, clamps, chain, pipe fittings, mans wedding ring, lipstick, makeup-brushes, empty perfume bottle, empty flower pot, pink facecloth, loofa, carbolic soap, pink tea-light, concrete house block, house bricks, wool, sunglasses, recycled Plexiglas sheets, acrylic light tubing, vacuum handle, LEDS, hand stitched textile from used women’s clothes.  
Dimensions: Variable
Year: 2020

The DreamCatcher is a Native American symbol that filters dreams; it is a maternal memento usually hung above the bed where at first light its exposure to sunlight ensures that the DreamCatcher absorbs negative dreams. Conversely, in an abusive relationship dreams are stifled by a barrier of suppression and all that remains is the negative consequences of abuse where victims are silenced and paralysed by shame; it takes immense strength to endure these conditions on a daily basis. The phrase ‘walking on eggshells’ springs to mind as an apt metaphor to describe the difficulty victims of abuse have in navigating the perils of the domestic space; where within its perimeter the protection offered is just an illusion and instead of a safe haven its inhabitants are filled with distress and torment and forced to participate as unwilling protagonists in everyday nightmares. These contemptuous surroundings smother the intellect and force the mind to question its own sanity.

Chests and Drawers with their fake bottoms are referred to by Gaston Bachelard in ‘The Poetics of Space’ as ‘veritable organs of the secret psychological life’. Certainly within the realm of Domestic Abuse secret lives exist. The drawer here exists without its chest, its nakedness vulnerable, its interior exposed and merged with the exterior space of the home. Its mystery is violated and its secrets exposed. Red, a recurring theme within the work communicates several opposing connotations that create a paradox within the work, red warns of imminent danger but also signals strength and determination, it is a colour closely associated with the female, pink been a lighter shade of red.  Aside from the difficulty an abused woman experiences on a day-to-day basis, this work serves to remind us of the strength and character it takes for somebody to navigate such a tulmountous environment. 


DreamCatcher

Rural Shame was an exhibition that was recently shown in Custom House Gallery & Studios in Westport, Co. Mayo. It consisted of a 4 works that aimed to bring the subject of domestic abuse into discourse. At first glance the exhibition appealed aesthetically to the eye, it held a pleasant aura but on closer examination, the viewer realized that all was not right; something was off, that the work disguised an insidious undertone. Adapting to the gallery space, and viewing it in correlation with the space of the home by bringing the private out into the public in a move to open up a conversation around the hidden injustices of the female within the home. This work responds to the theme of seclusion, the emphasis on isolation for its inhabitant as a result of living within a coercive environment. Room 10 x 8; circa 1990 is constructed to the dimensions of a small room from salvaged domestic objects, refashioned to tell a story. Its title refers to an era prior to social media, which only serves to enhance its solitude. Constructed from salvaged domestic objects, refashioned to tell a story. Its entrance is unconnected; light seeps out from beneath its threshold signifying the boundary between that room and the rest of the house. The lit Plexiglas tubing runs the perimeter of the work; the red light is symbolic of the Sacred Heart bulb that was a familiar feature through many Irish homes during that era and of Catholicism’s saturating influence. Mother stood with her back to me is also a piece on loneliness and isolation. In this work there is a doubling, the two mothers, both with their backs to us. The statue is a representation of the suffocating power of Catholicism. The work also includes stripped telephones, disconnected devices to the outer world that emphasize the isolation. You Have Been Given a Second Chance is composed of 7 mops. Each mop is accompanied by a hand-stitched piece of text that spells out the title of the work. The number 3 is symbolic of the Trinity; three mop handles are replaced by fluorescent tubing that diffuses red light. Stones piled on top of each other form the mops bases and suggest a marker. 


 






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Lorraine Cleary