How to Flatten a Mountain 2018
Dates: April 23 – May 4, 2018
How to Flatten a Mountain is an annual residency opportunity which takes place at Cow House Studios in County Wexford. On Monday, April 23rd twelve artists arrived at the studios to experience ten days on the farm making new work, learning about each other’s artistic practice and working with a group of dynamic facilitators. The aim of this residency was for participating artists to explore possibilities outside their core practice and by working collaboratively, produce a cohesive exhibition of work presented as part of PhotoIreland Festival, 2018.
This twelve-day programme was comprised of three component parts; workshop facilitation, open studio time and the installation and opening of an exhibition in Dublin for PhotoIreland Festival 2018. The first six days of the programme were comprised of a carefully selected series of workshops, readings and presentations designed to stimulate the creative process, facilitate collaboration, familiarise participants with the people and places of the locality and tease out shared curiosities and thematics. The following four days provided the necessary time and space to create new work. Following on from initial workshops, the open studio time allowed for participants to re-visit sites of interest, research, print and finalise work for presentation. The final two days were spent in Dublin installing the exhibition, culminating in an opening on the final evening of the programme.
How to Flatten a Mountain 2018 participants:
Rose Bennett, Donna Cooper Hurt, Sarah Flynn, Ana Gómez de León, Shaney Marie Herrmann, Katinka Igelberg, Daniel Orlando Lara Garcia, Nancy Libson, Sarah Pannell, Leah Raintree, Molly Ruoho, and Sofia Seguro.
For the 2018 programme, participants took an active part in a series of workshops led by Irish-based New Zealander Cathy Fitzgerald, whose creative practice and research is a response to eco-socio-political concerns, Barcelona based artist, photographer and bookmaker Laia Abril whose work is presently on show at Copper House Gallery and Irish photographer and lecturer Robert Ellis, whose work addresses notions of “home”, working with small rural communities, often relying on inherent or local knowledge to inform a sense of place. These facilitators served as an integral part of the residency, contributing valuable insights which helped guide the production of new work.
For the exhibition, each artist approached the photographic medium with a different set of curiosities, interests and concerns and while the work presented was diverse in subject, the participating artists displayed a remarkable solidarity and illustrated what is possible in just ten short days of work.
Contact
For any further questions about How to Flatten a Mountain, please contact Frank Abruzzese, Co-Director, Cow House Studios.
For more opportunities like this, see our regularly updated Artist Residency Opportunities Page.