IAN WIECZOREK - Visual Artist
Transgress
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Transgress
A multimedia solo exhibition/installation in Ballina Arts Centre,
Co Mayo, Ireland in March to May 2019.
Slideshow of installation images:
The show is an exploration of the phenomenon of borders, reflecting both current socio-political events and a continuing narrative within my work: the border as a physical barrier, its implications and its porosity – a theme I have been researching over the past ten years. While recent events in various parts of the world have injected a fresh significance and relevance, borders have existed since the earliest times; and they have always been crossed, regardless of the level of difficulty presented. Avoiding commentary of an overtly politicised nature, my work engages with the subject as a reflection of the human condition
(Excerpt from VAI News Sheet July-August 2019 ‘How Is It Made?’)
A major strand of this exhibition has involved the making of paintings based on low-resolution images harvested from the internet. Stripped of specific context, the images transcend their original documentary intentions and assume more malleable, subjective significance. The paintings - such as the Crossing series and associated works - isolate the subject-figures from their surroundings and any localised context, and offer a more universal reflection on the resilience and perseverance of the human condition.
Compulse is taken from an infra-red surveillance video showing the surreptitious movement of people in transit. The consequence of the low quality technology of the surveillance equipment used, the shifting and indistinct imagery echoes the unofficial nature of the activity. We have no way of discerning where this is taking place, so, rather like the blurred quality in Wieczorek’s paintings, we can look at this in its generality and universality rather than in the specific details. The quality of the video also recalls the imagery of ultrasound screening used in hospitals, and together with the pulses of movement, there is some allusion to innate biological nature as regards the compulsion, and often necessity, to cross lines.
CROSSTALK explores other more spatial thematic responses based on the semiotics and physical manifestations of border environments. The works reference border markings both official (signage, etc) and unofficial (such as the simple cross markers that are erected in Mexican border towns), and associated physical structures (such as chain-link fencing, and the ‘Czech hedgehog’ anti-vehicle hardware that featured as pert of the Berlin Wall.)
