An Essence of Presence (2017)

Just as a picture taken off a wall leaves a mark behind, so, too, do people by their absence. Personal belongings abandoned, a page turned at the corner as a bookmark, sheets left on the bed ready for sleeping in, LPs on the record player, clothes hanging in the wardrobe ready to wear – all of these items leave an essence of presence – a residual feeling in the atmosphere almost like a memory. It is this presence of lives lived and memories made that I hope I captured for this exhibition which opened in Tuar Ard Arts Centre, Moate, Co Westmeath in 2017. With over 183,000 unlived-in properties in Ireland (according to Census 2016) it makes you wonder – where did everybody go?