"the long finger" 2020

During the Pandemic and Covid -19 restrictions I began working mostly from home which meant producing and imagining on a smaller scale. I intensified my work with ceramics in 2020 making figurative pieces that formed from the very simple idea of parts of the body – under pressure and straining to struggle, to reach out, find solace or just to be. These ceramic figures evolved themselves, from the process and literally the clay forming in my hands. I worked mostly in porcelain which is very elastic and a lovely medium to use for representing fragments of the human body with its fine bone-like finish and the way it holds and reflects glazes. Also a sense of being alone was somehow important to the overall project. 'the long finger' is my attempt to free the form, let it meander and be very flexible to the point where it can be re-arranged into a myriad of compostions. The dots and there are 33 of them in different individual hues were a departure to play with surface and create movement

"furry fingers" 2020

I adore Méret Oppenheim's surrealist sculptures and this is a kind of homage to 'Lucheon in Fur' which is still so original and beautiful and unheimlich. The uncanny is closely alligned to the Surrealist manifesto and I return to this feeling as something apt for Covid – 19 experience. Three of 'furry fingers' are removable and I particularly like this playfullness as well as the contrast between the 'fake fur' and the hardness of the ceramics.

"humpty dumpty" 2020

I began with coloured drawings that were not representative of any form but rather the pulsation of it and not symbolic either – more experiential. From there I went directly into a loose interpretation in clay, white porcelain mostly but some red terracota too. Things that seemed key were: colour, texture, glossy glazes – shiny, even foolish cartoonish, I suppose an anti-aesthetic or at least more like a child-like, outsider style while referencing the Surrealist movement. A series to explore a range of bodily gestures and moods e.g exercising, eating, sleeping, walking, resting, swimming, dreaming, longing and missing. Compression, bloating, folding, distorting and manipulating the bodily form. 'humpty dumpty' is a sense of the body (my body) from the inside out, and reflects both a feeling of staticness and change simultaneously. I like working in series because when I get an idea. I need to explore it overtime and in depth in order to understand what it means for me.

Note: The text above was written by the Artist. No modification was made by COCA.

Margaret Fitzgibbon

Ireland

http://www.margaretfitzgibbon.net

Margaret Fitzgibbon received a B.A. in Sculpture/Print from the Crawford Art Gallery Cork and an M.A in Sculpture and Installation Art from The National College of Art and Design Dublin Ireland and was awarded a PhD in Practice-based Art from NCAD in 2014 where since 209 she teaching part time University Certificate of Visual Arts Practice: Drawing and Sculptural Processes.
Fitzgibbon’s practice spans experimental short film, sculpture, installation, drawing and mixed media collage on fabric. Fitzgibbon deploys her subjective sensory experiences and extends these to explore female identity, the role of women, the relations between women and public and domestic spaces as well as the relationships between women while endeavouring to address larger issues. She has extensive knowledge and deep appreciation of crafts (ceramics, sewing, tapestry) which she uses to imbue social within her oeuvre. Fitzgibbon is particularly alert to social injustice, gender roles and cultural identity codes.