My current work is in part an extension of work explored for my Degree show 2020. That work focused on the themes of Domicide, displacement and the subliminal tokens of absence which are present in ruins. What Remains further investigates these subliminal tokens of absence.I used an original black and white site specific photograph and digitally manipulated it to exaggerate the forms and shadows. Ruins act both as a pseudo-presence and a token of absence. They are traces of a lived experience and hold memories embedded into every stone. Ruins embody the sublime and the ethereal traces invoke both a response and a curiosity in our psyche. We are compelled to construct a narrative and to question what we behold in our gaze.The fact that these ruins would toppled and submerged imbues them with a melancholy and an air of despair. By using tapestry as a medium I am trying to weave the threads of memory and reconstruct the narrative surrounding these ruins. The various textures and thickness of threads and wools try to encompass the rich and varied lived histories of these ruins.The work was begun during the start of the second Covid 19 lockdown with the theme of site specific ruins. As I progressed into the third lockdown in January my thoughts were constantly drawn to the idea of ruin as a metaphor for the ruin of our former lives and freedoms pre Covid 19.Ruins present you with a choice whether to knock it and start again, build on what is left or remain static. It is similar with our lives now. Every thread I wove had the imprint of Lockdown on my life, embedded on them. What Remains for me?

Maria Healy | Graduate - MTU Crawford - Contemporary Applied Art