Bridge Rose – Decade

In Collaboration with Eastside Arts Festival

Artist talk 6th August at 1pm https://www.eastsidearts.net/events/bridge-rose-artist-talk/

My work explores the intersection of emotional and systemic processes. Connection is
forged through emotional experiencing if given the correct conditions. Shame,
disconnection, loss and fear obstruct expression. These emotions can be transformed
through connection and acceptance. However, we also need to be supported by systems
which make it possible to have our needs met, and often we are not. We are then taught
culturally, by various systems, that our individual wellbeing and success are a product of
personal grit and our distress and inability to live up to these standards is a product of
personal failure. This decontextualises the individual and protects systems of power.
 
My practice looks to explore the interplay of these personal and systemic factors. I use my
own experiences as the basis for the work, as the personal experiences of others is often
what encourages people to reflect on their own perspectives and inquire about similar or
divergent aspects of themselves. I respond to materials which I feel a connection to and feel
an urge to engage with, remaining curious about what draws me to these and questioning
my own response to them. I make work and objects which create abstract representations
of these emotional and systemic processes.
In my most recent work, I examine intrapersonal and external factors which promote or
inhibit expression by making objects representational of a reflection on ten years which I
spent without making art. Themes of expression and repression are explored through a
series of objects whose analogous colours and repetitious construction create a sense of
immersion. The materials used include fabric, rubber, cellophane and polyurethane, metal,
wood and synthetic twine. These materials are representative of the feminine, the sexual,
the wasted, the vulnerable, and the domestic.

Bio
Bridge Rose is an artist based in Dublin. She graduated with a B.A. in Visual Arts Practices
from the Institute of Art, Design and Technology Dun Laoghaire in 2010. Working primarily
in installation, performance and photography, she created work which centred on her
identity as an artist and her relationship with process. Shereturned to education for a
further seven years and changed career paths, working in film, theatre, education and
healthcare. Returning to her art practice in 2020, she began painting as a means of
reconnecting with creative expression and soon moved into mixed media object-making.
Her work continues to address issues of personal and systemic processes which individually
impact us, and her own relationship with her practice.