Bogs

Earth Writings Exhibition

Library, Maynooth University
November 20 2019

Monica de Bath

artist | educator | facilitator

Exhibition Details:

PLOT / CEAPACH

Paintings, drawings, artist books, short film, artefacts installation.

My practice is shaped by understanding Land as more than a physical but also discursive, phenomenological and poetic site.

PLOT / CEAPACH frames work that explores peoples’ relationship with land, sea, each other, and the urgent need to make a living at contested sites such as the Bog of Allen and the Atlantic Blanket Bog of Ireland.

Echoing the ‘contrapuntal thinking’ of Edward Said, PLOT attempts to reveal the many distinct voices around contested land use. Painting, drawing, notebook conversations, and film create imaginary spaces where traces of diverse views are pulled together; art and language establish a position from which to look at things differently.

Exhibited works reference conversations with workers and with a changing habitat at this time of critical concern about climate change and the loss of ecosystems.

Engaging with the Bord na Móna Ecology Team has opened up a world of interdisciplinary art and ecological thinking. Sphagnum moss, a miniscule plant and known as the bog builder, offers a lens through which to look at the fragility of raised bog remnants. PLOT / CEAPACH now moves between cutaway bog, raised bog remnants, workers, wetland communities – all facing urgent challenges as Bord na Móna, a semi-state, transitions to a post-mining role.

Artist’s Biography

Monica de Bath is an artist and arts educator, whose practice incorporates research, drawing, painting, short films and seminars. Her work is shaped by two languages. She studied Painting at NCAD and has an MA in visual arts practices from IADT.

Her Temporary Studio within an industrial Bord na Móna peat excavation site, launched an ongoing project PLOT / CEAPACH.

Ecological and socially engaged arts projects currently include Creative Rathangan Meitheal, ‘Tar Isteach’ Bealtaine Commission 2019/20 with Ground Up Artists Collective and Creative Associate with Creative Schools, an Arts Council and Department of Education Initiative.

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