i – Info Stand
Get info about the Park Event and the 5 Year History of AAEX.
W – Workshop Pods
Location for workshops. For a list of available workshops and booking see aaex.eventbrite.ie
Mobile – The Pedal Press (Creative Spark Print Studio / Grainne Murphy)
Try and catch AAEX member and Creative Spark Print Studio coordinator Grainne Murphy doing her rounds with her fabulous new mobile pop-up print studio, the Pedal Press. Grab the opportunity to create a print of your own!
1 – Healing Mandalas (Aileen Durkan)
Mandalas are designed to create a sense of harmony. They are often used as a focus point for introspection and self-understanding. These mandalas were created with the intention to manifest healing in the body, mind and soul with the use of repurposed materials. Each mandala was created during a meditative process using the symbol of the seed of life which represents both our inner and outer universe, and the creation of life.
Aileen is a multi-disciplinary artists and holistic therapist based in Drogheda
2 -Little Inklings at Craobh Rua
The installation by Caoimhe O’Dwyer and Susan Farrelly mirrors a totem pole and tent piece created for a workshop program with the Mother and Toddlers Group at the Craobh Community House (Youth Work Ireland), facilitated by AAEX members Jenny Slater, Caoimhe O’Dwyer, Susan Farrelly and Úna Curley. It showcases the work of the Mothers & Babies that participated. Families and young children are encouraged to interact and play inside the structure and record a line drawing of their hands.
3 – This is Tomorrow @ Deehub
The installation began in online classes of a workshop program with Youth Club members from Deehub, Ardee, facilitated by AAEX Members Susan Farrelly, Michael Stafford and Niamh O’Connor. Inspired by Tibetan prayer flags and Raggedy Trees we wanted to create something together that could join up and represent the group’s work. Made from recycled fabric sewn into 2 meter lengths (to represent social distance). The colours, symbols and marks made on each flag can represent visual themes important to each artist. There is a performative element in the tying of the sections together, connecting and a celebration of hope as the contributors get to meet as a group in person in the park and get to speak to each other about the work created in the online zoom workshops.
It is a collaborative 3D painting that can grow over time so others are invited to contribute at the Park Event (walk up -decorate a flag) and talk with some of the makers.
4 – Icarus – Right Wing [Reworked] (Bernhard Gaul)
Icarus – Right Wing is part of a series called Exposing Painting to the Elements, in which oil based paintings are installed outdoors, exposed to the wind and weather or even emerged in the sea, counteracting the common perception, that paintings are precious objects, susceptible to slightest changes in humidity or temperature and have to be preserved for all eternity. It’s an attempt to give paintings the freedom of perishing outdoors.
5 – A Shared World (Interactive)
The interactive installation celebrates the cultural diversity among AAEX members and visitors at the park. Six blackboards display a word in English each, followed by translations into other languages spoken by AAEX members (Bangla, Cantonese, French, German, Irish, Latvian, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish), visitors are encouraged to add their own as well as mapping out their geographical life journeys on a large world map painted on the lawn.
6 – Still Garden (Jenny Slater)
Using found objects, flowers and twigs dipped in plaster, this piece seeks to create a feeling of stillness so that we might have a quiet moment to pause and consider all the processes of change that occur in life and in nature, which can be both beautiful and harsh at the same time. Jenny Slater is a multidisciplinary artist from Louth working with mixed media and found objects, to explore human growth across the life cycle.
7 – Collagraphy in Situ (Tracy Fry)
Collagraphy is a basic form of printmaking in which print plate is created by adding texture to a surface which can be used to print from. AAEX member Tracy Fry will be constructing collagraphs in the park on Saturday and Sunday, applying materials like string, carborundum grit, fabrics and waste material such as card and plastic. The end result is a plate or block covered with raised or indented areas which can produce a limited run of prints. Tracy also seals and paints the plates.
Tracy will provide demonstrations of the process at 3 pm on Saturday and Sunday. For booking see aaex.eventbrite.ie
8 – AAEX Block Puzzle
The AAEX Block Puzzle was created for the SEEK Festival 2021 and displayed at Market Square, Dundalk. It’s a playful take on the small scale block puzzles for children, showing images related to Dundalk. Two sides were spray painted by children and teenagers as part of SEEK spray painting workshops.
9 – AAEX Flamingo
The AAEX Flamingo was created for the SEEK Festival 2020 and displayed on top of the Tourist Office in Dundalk. It commemorates a real flamingo who took residency in Dundalk Bay in 1985 and drew large crowds. Like the real world predecessor, the AAEX Flamingo was widely photographed and images share on social media, managing do draw a smile on the face on many in a brief period of relief between COVID Lockdowns.
10 – Live Cellograffiti Painting (Omin)
AAEX member Omin, well known form his large scale murals throughout Dundalk and his involvement in the SEEK Festival, will be in the park to paint live on plastic wrap stretched between trees. Times to be announced.
Feature photo: Elina Kolodina, AAEX Flamingo in Sunset at St. Helena’s Park
AAEX – Art in the Park is supported by
AAEX (Art As Exchange) 