"Becoming" Exhibition by Alice Maher -Irish Museum of Modern Art

Alice Maher, I would describe as a very organic artist, or in the words of Louis Le Brocquy, she is a folk artist.   This would be due to her abundant use of natural materials she finds in the hedgerows and fields. The first piece we encountered was a bowl made from snail shells.   Then there were three sculptures on display made from wild rose thorns placed side by side and completely covering the surface.   An intriguing example was a set of three stairs measuring around eighteen inches and placed on a wall. Other similiar sculptures were two 10 inch thorn domes.   I imagine there must have been some sore fingers making these jaggy creations.

Another hedgerow and thorny item was a large four foot globe made completely from long hedge briars interwoven into each other in response to the function of  Kilmainham jail (1796-1924) now a museum.

Then there were the three hedgerow facemasks, one of sticks and leaves, another a head dress made of green moss and lastly beside it a face cover of wild rose thorns.   Carrying on this folk art theme was a small childs cotton dress stiffened with stach and covered in blackberries.   At the time of its release the first of the roman catholic priests abusing children scandals was coming into the news and the public related this piece to that.  Oher items included an ostrich egg etched with fine black ink.

Alices use of conventional artistic materials like charcoal, paper, calaco and chalk was still impressed with her deeply organic style and covered themes of such as long flowing hair, even using a twenty foot loose mass of flax beside a large board with a small painting of a girl with long hair that hung straight up.

I was impressed with her figurative art using charoal and chalk covering various theme of hair, child developement and the human form.

The second part of Alice's exhibition was a videp entitled "Casandra's Necklace".    There were two opposing screens in the threatre, each one showing a variation of the film.     The scene was a underworld cave with various random acts, some even a bit grotesque and accompanied by earie sounds.  

Personally I got very absorbed into the mood and feeling of the film.   For me it was Alice expressing her inspiration by portraying the deep dark well of her mind.  It was her sub/un-conscious shown vaguely with a series of primal images in a silent enclave.   Being and Becoming