www.karenhendyartist.com/siamsatire

As a member of Cuman na mBan in Co. Longford, my grandmother, Kate McGann, delivered messages to republican fighters in the lead up to the Easter Rising. From her village of Keenagh, she would cycle to meet rebels working in the bogs, carrying messages hidden in the spouts of billycans or her garments. She was later awarded a medal for her involvement in the rebellion. Materials in this painting are suggestive of the bags used for gathering turf, with motifs relating to the topography and road layout around Keenagh townland. The materials are deliberately manipulated on the left of the composition to evoke the clandestine underground activity during this repressive period. Peat,bullets and red paint are burned into the boards to conjure the very real peril associated with such undertakings. On a lighter, more serendipitous note, the artist elected to retain the number 1795 that appear in the composition on the hession material: a random event in the artistic process. However, upon the painting’s reception, this chance occurrence generated numerous ‘misconceptions” or “miscreadings” of the numbers’ significance. Spectators have attributed a range of meanings in relation to possibly charged historical or political events – an accidental, supplementary dialogue  thereby emerging between the public and the work. This unforeseen exchange enjoys the additional value of drawing attention to potentially loaded concepts and forms of commemoration and its exercise. Ultimately, the work represents a more personal tribute to the strength and courage of one Irish woman who rose to the challenge of extraordinary times. She quietly fulfilled a critical function in the transmission of information, which could well have cost her life. 

This series first saw the introduction of burnt silage foil which I collected in the landscape during my travels, a common sight in rural Ireland. By using a burning process I manipulated the plastic on boards and different surfaces in the form of traditional landscapes highlighting current environmental issues.

Landscape materials including sand and peat were incorporated in this 8m-long experimental ink drawing.

A strong-contrasted series of multimedia paintings, based on the sea.