Institution
National College of Art and Design (NCAD)
Medium
Design
Graduation Year
Class of 2024
Share
How can we love and heal the Earth and ourselves? The cost of living, housing, and climate crises - all products of capitalist greed - have been detrimental to our mental health. I searched for a way to escape these burdens on my mind which inspired my project "Biophilic Solutions," encouraging reconnection with the natural world to tackle these issues. Our ancestral knowledge was the starting point to guide us on how to work with the earth. In the first outcome, 'Roots,' I used cyanotype printing and beetroot dying, to create upcycled scarves (originally bought in charity shops to promote circular design and the act of repair and reuse) declare the old Irish words, Imbas (greater knowledge/inspiration) andSíocháin (peace). Cyanotype in my work represents how sun printing brings life to designs mimicking how the sun allows life to flourish on the earth. I made dye out of beetroots, which fit perfectly in the project, being roots themselves for the project 'Roots'. The Irish language is a central part of 'Roots' as it looks into how much of our culture, language, and ancient knowledge was lost, due to colonisation. Using our native language, Gaeilge, is a step towards reclaiming that. The scarves were accompanied by the 'Roots' booklet exhibiting the process. Old Irish signs inspired the type for the scarves in which I cut out the lettering into stencils with cardstock. Wearing these scarves inspires the wearer to remind the self that all is not lost. Imbas, knowledge, and síocháin, peace, will always prevail. The second outcome in this project, 'Ground' looks into how we can tackle the constant movement and anxiety that living in the modern world under capitalism brings. The solution is grounding and being present in the now without being consumed by the regrets of the past and the worries of the future. ‘Unbuntu,’ philosophy was a key point that helped push this, from African-origin value systems that speak of interconnectedness with all that is alive, can be translated as 'I am because we are,' or 'humanity towards others.''Ground' is an immersive video that aims to ground the viewer in the present moment and find the appreciation and connection of all life on earth. Through the art of observation, I filmed glimpses of various pieces of the world around me with a focus on nature. For the audio of the video, I used a device which records the electronic waves of plants to create sounds from various instruments. This allowed me to make music coming from moss as the sound. The video has text from Tamarack Song’s Journey to the Ancestral Self that speaks on how we have lost the present moment due to our focus on time as linear. All these elements combined create an immersive moment that displays to the viewer that the beauty of life is in its living.
