Lauren McKenna
she/her
Emergence
My work dives into the world from a sea bird's perspective. This “birds eye view” has brought me along a journey beyond what the eye can see. If you come to the beach, you will think it is pristine. It is not until you start looking closer that you see just how much plastic emerges along the shore. Birds become entangled in this plastic which also ends up in their gut as they mistake it for food amongst the ribbons of seaweed. If you have ever walked the beaches after a storm, you can see the remnants of our “throw it away” society.
The mediative act of hand cut paper works becomes integral to my process. Lace-like patterns create visual narratives exploring the materiality of light and reflect the ever-changing world we live in today, where the delicate balance of nature can be ruined so easily. As you move and change your perspective within my work, the reflections of light and shadow manipulate, and rounded curves and hollow spaces become ever-changing forms.
“Art, the work of the head, the work of the heart, and the work of the hands” - Gert Biesta
“The natural world then seemed like an unexplored world...everywhere you turned you saw something new” - David Attenborough
“The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity” - Alberto Giacometti
Research
The design process, ink on paper
On film
On film
Cyanotype swatches
Offerings from the sea
Teaching Placements
St Tiernans Community School, Dublin
St Macartans College, Monaghan
St Louis Secondary School, Monaghan