I dreamt I dwelt

6 September – 19 October 2019
Kerlin Gallery, Dublin

‘I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls’ was a popular 19th century aria that inspires the idea of grand architecture and interiors. A work called Room lay at the centre of the show – a floor of white marble from which a shark emerges. The history of the shark, spanning over 400 million years, is longer than that of the stone from which it is carved; Carrara marble having once been the floor of ancient oceans. 

The shark is an incredibly important part of our ecosystem and is much threatened in recent times by overfishing and the cruel practice of finning. In Room the shark is represented in an active position as yet not lost to fossilisation. 

Listen Listen – two pillows lay side by side, an impression marking the surface as if left by a resting head. On each pillow an ear is carved: one left, one right. Alphabet – A pile of rounded quartz beach stones were stacked into a mound. Twenty six of the stones are carved with the letters of the Roman alphabet and scattered randomly on the pile – the collapse or arrival of language.