wildernish

'Defy Gravity’ is a series of works derived from photographic studies of landscapes and objects happened upon at locations local and international over this last 30 years or so.

I make these works because I see the concept of entropy manifested in these landscapes and objects. This concept – which can be summarised as the general trend of the universe toward death and disorder – excites me, as I like to consider it as the only real constant throughout the entirety of all our human and ‘civilising’ endeavours.

A streetscape of multidimensional proportions - Whitechapel, London, England 2011

Initially photographed as a series of detail shots, I manually stitched the images together to recreate this ephemeral vista. The day I happened to pass by this scene I knew I had to get back there as soon as possible to photograph it all properly, before it was all likely cleaned up and obscured from view for the London Olympics, the following year.

Exhibited originally at ‘Defy Gravity’ (solo exhibition) Ardgillan Gallery, 2024.

SPECIFICATIONS
Photograph, printed on Canson Baryta Photographique 310gsm archival inkjet paper velcro-mounted on OSB board
1000mm x 2474mm print mounted on 2838mm x 3657mm x 11mm OSB board

From a photo book travelogue of inward-looking observation

The title Hohlweltlehre references an elusive mythical notion - linked in the past to occult secret societies and conspiracies - that proposed the Earth as almost entirely hollow.

Hohlweltlehre also proposed the Earth’s surface as in fact underground and therefore the surface of the earth sitting upon its concave curvature.

Initially an attractive concept as analogy to a perception of the North American continent as increasingly culturally insular, the photo book from which they originated serves as a series of personal reminders to the persistence and proliferation of human diversities regardless.

Within that book these re-imagined aerial photographs taken from the aircraft window on various flights initially served to bracket and fortify that perception but subsequently proved catalyst towards challenging that same notion once firmly ‘on the ground’ and fully immersed in day-to-day life there.

SPECIFICATIONS
Box-framed (unglazed) photographs printed on Canson Velin Museum Rag, 315gsm
270mm x 208mm x 20mm each
8 black and white images

SEE ALSO
Hohlweltlehre (Photobook)
Hohlweltlehre (Etchings)
Halftone 2016 (Exhibition)

A travelogue of inward-looking observation

This series of images are derived from a combination of aerial photographs taken from my passenger window view during various trips to North America, 2012-2016.

The title Hohlweltlehre references an elusive mythical notion - linked in the past to occult secret societies and conspiracies - that proposed the Earth as almost entirely hollow. Hohlweltlehre also proposed the Earth’s surface as in fact underground and therefore the surface of the earth sitting upon its concave curvature.

Exhibited originally at ‘Halftone 2016’ (group exhibition) The Library Project, Dublin.

SPECIFICATIONS
Framed (non glazed) photo etchings
450mm x 625mm x 50mm each
2 black and white images
Fabriano etching paper

SEE ALSO
Hohlweltlehre (Photo essay)
Hohlweltlehre (Photobook)
Halftone 2016 (Exhibition)

Of psychogeographical wanderings

Moments both significant and insignificant from everyday life, each one titled in an attempt to remember the meaning of a memory as it otherwise fades and changes continously as time passes between the now and the then.

Attending a site viewing at the Homeless Gallery, Dublin 2012 I was drawn to disused warehouse door and subsequently installed this work at their group exhibition that same summer (with thanks to Maciek Malkiewicz for contextual photography).

Exhibited again with refreshed images using a shelf-mounted format at ‘Defy Gravity’ (solo exhibition) Ardgillan Gallery, 2024.

SPECIFICATIONS
Pin-mounted photographs
130mm x 130mm each
28 colour images
Baryta Photographique Satin 310gsm archival inkjet paper

SEE ALSO
Tiny Shards of Mirror Do Not Make a Starry Sky (Photobook)
Halftone 2018 (Exhibition)

Forever oblivious - Wicklow, Ireland 2015

A mystery blue-hooded figure by the Upper Lake in Glendalough, forever oblivious to the existence of this photograph, or to the fact that you’re looking at it right now.

Shortlisted for an exhibition award at ‘Bucolica’ (group exhibition) Mount Congreve Gallery, May - September 2024.

SPECIFICATIONS
Box-framed (glazed) photographs printed on Canson Baryta Satin 310gsm archival inkjet paper
490mm x 720mm x 20mm

SEE ALSO
‘Bucolica’ (Exhbition)

A ‘summit’, of sorts - Howth Summit, Dublin, Ireland, 2002

I’ve been up here many times. It’s a local landmark and finding it further marked like this too, a bit of a shock - to say the least.

One of a number of photographs restored from their original negatives, and thanks to recent aesthetically sensitive developments in interpolation, I can finally print at a reasonably large scale.

Exhibited at ‘For Want Of A Better Way’ (solo exhibition) GalleryX, 2024 and also as part of the inaugural Artform exhibition, at ‘The Dunmore’, Rathmines, Dublin, April 2025.

SPECIFICATIONS
Framed (non glazed) photographs, acrylic toned and painted mounts printed on Canson Baryta Satin 310gsm archival inkjet paper
810mm x 810mm x 50mm

SEE ALSO
Artform (Exhibition)

A miniature kingdom - Karlsruhe, Germany, 2015

My brother lives near here. I often ask him if it’s still there, and has not yet been replaced by a coffee kiosk or something else like that.

SPECIFICATIONS
Box-framed (glazed) photograph, printed on Canson Baryta Satin 310gsm archival inkjet paper
310mm x 310mm x 25mm

SEE ALSO
Defy Gravity (Exhibition)

The building that shivered - Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2009

A very well known high rise in Sao Paulo, now demolished. I made it a point to visit every time I got back there. Even though it was a challenge to photograph in the neighbourhood immediately surrounding it I am glad I persevered only now to find myself with a fitting tribute to it's true presence over the years of it's existence, right in the heart of that truly sprawling metropolis.

Exhibited originally at ‘Defy Gravity’ (solo exhibition) Ardgillan Gallery, 2024.

SPECIFICATIONS
Framed (non glazed) photograph, 'tray' mounted printed on Canson Baryta Photographique 310gsm archival inkjet paper
614mm x 775mm x 35mm

An accidental megalith, Clonshaugh, Dublin, Ireland 2011

An abandoned section of pipe on a stretch of wasteland running alongside the R139 on the outskirts of North Dublin. Probably there from when the road itself was built, it has since become a minor landmark bearing markings and inscriptions both casual and more persevering, of all those who dwelt momentarily while passing on by.

Exhibited originally at ‘Defy Gravity’ (solo exhibition) Ardgillan Gallery, 2024.

SPECIFICATIONS
Framed (non glazed) photograph, 'tray' mounted, printed on Canson Baryta Photographique 310gsm archival inkjet paper
556mm x 375mm x 35mm

I tracked the snails by ‘TippEx’-ing numbers on their shells - Drumcondra, Dublin, Ireland, 1996

Taken late one hot summer night. I have a friend who had that exact same towel and I had mine too for years, until it eventually fell apart. A small patch of wilderness I was happy to further encourage during our time there renting - in the middle of the city.

SPECIFICATIONS
Framed (non glazed) photograph, acrylic toned and painted mounts printed on Canson Baryta Satin 310gsm archival inkjet paper
810mm x 810mm x 50mm

For duties long outlived - Fort Dunree, Donegal, Ireland, 2012

Once a sea fort in the truest sense but long decommissioned, it was as peaceful there that day as it apparently was when fully operational. It is said shots were never ever fired in anger from it's emplacements and now it's previously benign military life quietly but stealthily overtaken by the natural worlds upon those same clifftops.

Exhibited originally at ‘Defy Gravity’ (solo exhibition) Ardgillan Gallery, 2024.

SPECIFICATIONS
Framed (glazed) photograph, 'box' mounted, printed on Canson Baryta 310gsm archival inkjet paper
900mm x 620mm x 35mm

A back garden salvage, from a second thought - Finglas, Dublin, Ireland 2023

Found under a dug up patio, I took pains to ensure the preservation of its condition for the purposes of a studio photo shoot. After subsequently happening upon the plinth by chance I then decided to include the object itself too as a piece in the 'Defy Gravity' exhbition to compliment the exhibition concept.

Exhibited originally at ‘Defy Gravity’ (solo exhibition) Ardgillan Gallery, 2024.

SPECIFICATIONS
Found object 'Hot Wheels' toy, black perspex plinth
300mm x 300mm x 935mm

An hour’s worth of where I had no worldly reason to be

An hour or so spent bestilled from inside the growth of a deceptively expansive hedgerow, illuminated in light spill from a nearby office building. Maybe the camera was just an excuse as I lingered - for no rational reason other than to just to be there, momentarily snatched from the street and into this quiet miniature oasis in the heart of the city.

Exhibited originally at ‘A Hole In The Sun’ (solo exhibition) PhotoIreland 2013.

SPECIFICATIONS
Framed (non glazed) photographs
Acrylic toned and painted mounts
810mm x 810mm x 50mm each
5 colour images
Canson Baryta Satin 310gsm archival inkjet paper

SEE ALSO
Photo Ireland Festival 2013

Of psychogeographical wanderings

Moments both significant and insignificant from everyday life, each one titled in an attempt to remember the meaning of a memory as it otherwise fades and changes continously as time passes between the now and the then.

Exhibited originally at ‘Halftone 2018’ (group exhibition) The Library Project, Dublin. Selection of editions purchased into private collection.

SPECIFICATIONS
Block-mounted photographs
Acrylic toned and painted mounts
130mm x 130mm x 25mm each
18 colour images
Canson Photographique Satin 310gsm archival inkjet paper

SEE ALSO
Tiny Shards of Mirror Do Not Make a Starry Sky (Photobook)
Halftone 2018 (Exhibition)

Between trains, a long wait cut way too short

Coupled in this sequence, and likely always the case. But the years wrought on each one according to entirely different patterns, past events shaping each according to unique variations despite thier similar, singular function.

Exhibited originally at ‘Halftone 2019’ (group exhibition) The Library Project, Dublin.

SPECIFICATIONS
Block-mounted photographs
129mm x 198mm x 25mm each
4 colour images
Canson Platine matte 310gsm archival inkjet paper

SEE ALSO
Halftone 2019 (Exhibition)

Too late in the year for that kind of weather

On a train from Boston to New York the springtime sun higher in the air, burning a faint hole through sleet-silted cloud permeating the atmosphere. A strange day, rendered desolate by the view through the smoke-tinted windows of the train.

Exhibited originally at ‘A Hole In The Sun’ (solo exhibition) PhotoIreland 2013.

SPECIFICATIONS
Framed (non glazed) photographs
810mm x 810mm x 50mm each
10 black and white images
Hahnemuele matte 310gsm archival inkjet paper

SEE ALSO
Photo Ireland Festival 2013

26th, March 2011: Scenes from a semi-suburban spaghetti western shot in Surrey.

I took a walk out from beyond the edge of London and up into the Surrey hills with my camera phone while reflecting on a great aunt - born and reared in the rural south west of Ireland - who lived out the remainder of her days there.

SPECIFICATIONS
2 Hardcover ‘Blurb’ editions of ‘Country Sided’ Photobook
Garden bench
Astro turf

SEE ALSO
Country Sided (Photobook)
Photo Ireland Festival 2013

The end of summer, a four hour drive up from the west

A long, slow exposure, of sorts. Each little death imprinted by the slipstream. A farewell drive home and the car needed a wash, as I had it lined up to sell right after. But not before ensuring all those tiny little consequences of my journey were afforded an appropriate consideration.

Exhibited originally at ‘Halftone 2019’ (group exhibition) The Library Project, Dublin. Purchased into private collection.

SPECIFICATIONS
Block-mounted Inkjet photograph
420mm x 120mm x 20mm each4 colour images
Printed on Canson Platine matte 310gsm archival inkjet paper
Finished with clear gloss Acrylic

SEE ALSO
Halftone 2019 (Exhibition)

The House Presents 'Wildernish', at their caravan cinema in the Mud Island Community Garden, Dublin.

A screening of selected short video works projecting a series of 'remarkable insignificances' composed entirely on smartphone with texts, music, photography and video. Created from thoughts, reflections and wanderings in and around Dublin city and elsewhere.

To be presented as part of The FIve Lamps Arts Festival Dublin, April 3rd 2020.

TICKETS
(Details to follow)

A touring exhibition proposal

The photographic works I propose for this exhibition are documents of conscious attempts to be ‘here’.

Long before I owned a smartphone - and as much as I almost always had my camera with me - I would still refrain from photographing these places upon first visit in favour of just 'being' there for as long as the light allowed.

And only then to return at later dates to photograph thoroughly that someday I may invite others into an approximation of that time and place, as best as I could capture and recreate.

‘Present’ could therefore be considered a meditation on the conscious decision to be ‘here’ and to dwell a while. The exhibition may also be considered an invitation to visitors to contemplate the idea of presence in an age where we are constantly otherwise prompted to be anywhere else but ‘here’.