Leeward
Spring Residency Program
Residency Dates: Spring 2022
Residency Curator: Karla Sánchez
Applications Deadline: Closed
“Right now in the amazing moment that to us counts as the present, we are deciding, without quite meaning to, which evolutionary pathways will remain open and which will forever be closed.”
– Elizabeth Kolbert
With the generous support of Wexford County Council, Cow House Studios presents Leeward, a 4-week residency open to visual artists and other creative practitioners. Starting with the premise that the “Rural” is a cultural construction that we need to demystify and take apart; the residency will address misunderstandings about how the countryside works, what it needs, and what it can offer. It will also look into current theories about the survival of our species.
The name Leeward refers to the side of a mountain sheltered from the wind. Cow House Studios lies against the foot of the Blackstairs mountains, offering shelter from both the physical forces and prevailing cultural winds. From this refuge, we will analyze how the study of the “Rural” may offer alternative scenarios about the future of the world.
City folks regulate and dictate what, when and how things are to be done out in the country. The focus of the residency will be on the exploration of prevalent attitudes and discourses around the Rural, and its ever-changing and conflicted relationship with the Urban. We will invite the discussion of topics such as climate change (contested or not), flawed economic systems and their consequences (inequality, social discontent, alienation), and issues of connection and belonging.
While there are many definitions of the Rural, some of the common factors used to classify it are population size, population concentration, physical distance to other settlements (remoteness), travel time and population potential. We would like to bring awareness to the differences and patterns that emerge when studying both the physicality of the Rural as well as the economic and cultural effects it has on the lives of the people who inhabit it.
We aim to foster both “thinking WITH” others as well as engage in a self-reflexive mode of study. For that purpose, we will also schedule visits to sites of interest in County Wexford as well as visits from other professionals to Cow House.
In order to show the results of the reflective process that we hope to initiate at Leeward, there will be an event open to the public to conclude the residency at Blackbird Cultur-Lab, an experimental culture-farm set in rural Wexford. The duration of the residency will be four weeks, from March 14th to April 10th, 2022.
Contact
For any further questions about Leeward, please contact Frank Abruzzese, Co-Director, Cow House Studios
To further understand the diversity of programming at our studios, please check out our gap year art program, summer art program, and additional artist residencies.
Curator: Karla Sánchez
Born and raised in Mexico City, Karla Sánchez has worked as a curator, teacher, program officer, strategic planner, and artistic advisor. After studying an MA in Art History & Museum Studies (Texas Christian University) supported by a Fulbright grant, she further enhanced her education by doing internships and working at various museums both in Mexico and the USA (Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Art Institute of Chicago, Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso). Since her arrival in Ireland in 2004, she has been actively involved in the arts.
Her research interests are the environment, art education, the role of art in contemporary society, interdisciplinary collaborative practices, and existentialism. She lives on a farm/experimental culture house in Wexford with her young family; alongside her husband, they are searching for alternative modes of combining farm life and the Arts.
Participating Artist: Anne Vetter
Anne Vetter lives and works between the San Francisco Bay Area and Wellfleet, Massachusetts. She is a queer, trans-non-binary Jew. Her work focuses on the fluidity of identity, pushing against how whiteness and wealth can both protect and inhabit a body. Her current project, Love is not the Last Room, is made in collaboration with her parents, brothers, cousins, and partner, and is shot in and around her home.
Participating Artist: Karl Logge & Marta Romani
Karl Logge and Marta Romani from Sydney, Australia, and Brescia, North Italy, respectively, are husband and wife artist-team living and working in Sardinia, Italy. Their joint practice is influenced by the deep time of places, cycles, seasons, and the ancient art of weaving. Their work is closely connected to nature, territory, and cultural memory. Their community-driven projects engage weaving to explore the quality and care that connect us with the natural world and become entangled in its creative energy.
Participating Artist: Laurence O’Toole
Laurence O’Toole has a graphic design and metalworking background and lives near Carnsore Point, Co. Wexford. O’Toole’s practice responds to the natural environment with consideration for science/pseudo-science boundary, modern mythology, and anxiety. His multidisciplinary practice can range from staged scenes to highly crafted pieces. He aims to initiate a connection with the natural and the cosmological, inviting the viewer to contemplate the unnatural forces that impact them.
Participating Artist: Sarah Ellen Lundy
Sarah Ellen Lundy is a visual artist from South County Sligo; her studio practice is preoccupied with spaces and systems, predominantly the design of geometry and the cyclical systems of the natural world. Through the use of moving image, assemblage, and ephemeral performance materials, the works endeavor to negotiate provocative arrangements and question autonomy in the face of innate and applied homogenization.
