On all cylinders, 2022

Photography, sculpture, light and sound.

Chelsea Collage of Art Masters Graduate Show

On all cylinders is exactly as it sounds, a work that has been presented on 6 recycled cardboard cylinders. Choosing this material felt natural to me, especially considering its use by women in protest. It was two cylinders that held the banner ‘women unite!’ in the 1970 women’s movement protests. When I work with girls in remote communities I use cylinders to store the massive banners that the girls create, I travel 1000s of kms with cylinders on the roof of my car, re-rolling at each town. The title of my work ‘on all cylinders‘ has derived from the phrase firing on all cylinders, for girls and women in 2022 I feel that this sentiment is required as we continue to come up against a system of inequality.

This work is grounded in feminism, I deliberately created an assertive installation using feminine materials like cotton twill and cute pink roller skating wheels. The black and white cotton material prints are installed like flags at the entry to an official building. The sound piece that most people assume is drumming is in fact two rural Irish girls set dancing on timber. For the viewer I wanted to raise questions of power, girlhood and feminism transcending.