A unique video installation by acclaimed artist Nadine Byrne is being exhibited in Stockholm as a part of Between Worlds: L’esprit de l’escalier at Glasburen. We spoke with the curator, Sheena Malone, to learn more about it.
How did this exhibition with Nadine come about? Were you friends or did you simply admire her work?
‘Between Worlds: L’esprit de l’escalier’ is my graduation exhibition for the master programme in Curating Contemporary Art at Stockholm University. How I met Nadine is a little bit of a strange story! One night, I was chatting to a guy in a bar about my thesis on the occult and shamanistic practices in art. He asked if I was familiar with Nadine Byrne and suggested that I may like her work. As the conversation a little later turned to music and outsider musicians such as Jandek, he mentioned Nadine also had a band and suggested that I should definitely check out her website. As soon as I looked at her website, I really liked her work and knew that it was perfect for this exhibition. I haven’t seen the guy again but I’ve now done a show with Nadine!
What inspired you to work with Nadine for this exhibition in particular?
I think Nadine and I share very similar interests. At the moment, I am investigating contemporary artists who have an interest in the occult, mysticism and esoteric practices. As you can see from Nadine’s website, there are similar themes in her work. Her films and performances often involve some form of ritual or process or a drawing from 2010 is a self portrait in an altered state. She has created beautiful wearable sculptures in the form of ‘The Shaman’s Suit’ and ‘Poem’ from 2012 shows her interest in taking the audience on a journey beyond the geography of the place.
What can visitors expect to experience when they visit the exhibition?
The exhibition consists of a video piece called ‘How Pure is The Journey?’ by Nadine. It details the preparation necessary before enacting a ritual. In the film, you can see two women collecting flowers and plants which they then use to dye pieces of cloth before sewing the fragments together to create a garment to be worn as part of a ritual. At the end, you see both women cloaked in the fabric wading into a lake and submerging themselves in the water. Throughout the film, music composed by Nadine is played which I feel has an entrancing, meditative effect on the visitor .
Accompanying the film, we also have the fabric hanging in the gallery soaking wet with beads of water glistening under the lights. The piece is sewn together in a patchwork style reminiscent of Japanese boro textiles.
In addition to these main pieces, we also have a slideshow of photographs of a journey up the staircase of Konstnärshuset.
Do you have other exhibitions planned for the future? If so, can you share some details?
At the moment, I have two projects planned. The first one is in STOFF, the Stockholm Fringe festival which is called The SI Witkiewicz Portrait Painting Firm. It is a performance based on a real company that existed in Poland in the 1920s. It was performed in the Dublin Fringe festival last year. (More info here).
I am also working on an exhibition in Detroit Gallery with a Swedish artist Veronica Forsgren who lives in Dublin. The concept for that show revolves around cultural displacement and draws its inspiration from an Irish poem by Mairtin O’Direan called ‘An Gadscaoileadh’ which uses the metaphor of a fisherman’s knot to advise against loosening your cultural ties before you have found something secure to anchor you.
