Connemara (2013) — Dorothy Cross

Connemara

5 October 2013 – 5 January 2014
Turner Contemporary, Margate

Inis Turk Snow, 2013, Archival pigment print [left]
Basking Shark Currach, 2013, Basking shark skin, wooden currach frame [right]

Tabernacle, 2013, Currach, shed, wood, roller blinds, mixed media, video — *Tabernacle,* 2013, Currach, shed, wood, roller blinds, mixed media, video

Tabernacle, 2013 [detail] — *Tabernacle,* 2013 [detail]

Everest-Shark-Whale-Tabernacle-Sapiens-Searchlight-Lazy-Beds.jpg

Everest Shark, 2013, Bronze — *Everest Shark,* 2013, Bronze

Family, 2005, Bronze — *Family,* 2005, Bronze

Everest-Shark-Travel-Case-Shell-Grotto-FootBoot-Insole-Little-Boy-BootFin-Skins.jpg

Shell Grotto, 2013, video projection [still] — *Shell Grotto,* 2013, video projection [still]

Shark Heart Submarine, 2011, Mixed Media — *Shark Heart Submarine,* 2011, Mixed Media

Shark-Heart-Submarine,-2011,-Tuner-Contemporary-Preview-.jpg

Connemara is an area on the west coast of Ireland edging the Atlantic Ocean.

The works in Connemara were not strictly about nature, perhaps a collaboration with nature. Many works involved things found on the shore: whale, shark and fractured-boat inhabited the space. Tabernacle stood at the centre of the show; an upturned currach created a roof for a shed-like structure. Darkening blinds formed the sides of Tabernacle and small benches lined up inside like a miniature cinema from which projected a video of a dark sea cave onto the opposite wall.

Shark Heart Submarine stood in a gallery hung with J.M.W Turner’s paintings of nature. It was a perfect placement for a 19th century easel with the patina of paint remaining on it. A model of a submarine sat on this easel, gilded with white-gold and holding the hidden heart of a shark within it. A heart that once beat in an animal that is very ancient and about which very little is known.

Everest Shark, Whale, Sapiens and Family occupied the floor. Another projected ‘doorway’ led through the back wall. The camera travelling through a shell Grotto long hidden underground in Margate, a series of tunnels lined with millions of sea shells built by an unknown maker.

List of works (click to expand)

Shell Grotto, 2013, Video Projection, Dimensions variable

Inis Turk Snow, 2013, Archival pigment print, 111.7 cm x 88.9 cm

Tabernacle, 2013, Currach, shed, wood, roller blinds, mixed media, video, 270 cm x 522 cm x 126 cm

Everest Shark, 2013, Bronze, 28 cm x 185 cm x 85 cm

Basking Shark Currach, 2013, Basking shark skin, wooden currach frame, 138 cm x 265 cm x 92 cm

Whale, 2011, Cuvier whale skeleton, cord, wood, rusted bucket and marble plinth, 700 cm / 275.6

Shark Heart Submarine, 2011, Mixed media, 520 x 80 cm, 91 cm x 6 cm

Family, 2005, Bronze, Dimensions variable

Searchlight (diptych), 2008, Archival pigment prints, 79 cm x 102 cm each

Insole, 2008, Cast bronze and found rubber boot, 8.5 cm x 29 cm x 11 cm

Foot and Boot, 2008, Cast bronze and found rubber boot, 27 cm x 24 cm x 30 cm

Skins, 2008, Cast bronze and found rubber fin, 8.5 cm x 29 cm x 11 cm

Little Boy Foot and Fin, 2008, Cast bronze and found rubber fin, 5 cm x 41 cm x 24cm

Sapiens, 2007, Cast bronze skull and antique brass tripod, 128 cm x 49 cm x 49 cm

Teacup, 1999, DVD, edition of 3 NTSC (3 min loop, 1hr duration), 4.4 cm x 7.8 cm

Foxglove 1, 2012, Bronze, 124 cm x 44 cm x 41cm

Travel Case, 2005, Victorian crocodile skin travel case, silver, glass, ivory &bronze, silver-plated crab, 34 cm x 56 cm x 16 cm

Connemara

List of works (click to expand)

Eye of Shark [Lismore Castle Arts] (2014)

Time Will Tell (2013)