Dreaming

Art work. Dreaming. Mono print, by artist Adelle Hickey. *

This black on ivory mono print of a little dress looks at the experience and journey of loss and grief. My father passed away when I was two years old. While I have no memories of him, his death cast a shadow of sadness, grief and poverty over my family. Emotional, mental and financial struggle were never too far from our door.

The dress is not fully present and appears somewhat in a state of repair. Its stillness and silence creates a sense of vulnerability. The imprint of the delicate fabric and stitching are combined to highlight our fragility. Holes, ripped seams and torn fabrics for example become the rents and tears in life.

Techniques are combined to create fragile atmospheres, perhaps to suggest that a wisp of our experiences remains continually with us or that a piece of us is slowly ebbing away.

The narrative is at once singular and universal.

Adelle Hickey.

*About Adelle Hickey.

Adelle is a printmaker and a member of DCCI. She runs her business, Hearts of Ireland, from her studio in Dublin. Adelle has had a successful career in the fashion and film industries. Her work embraces centuries of Irish visual culture. Her research in Design History and Material Culture has inspired and inspires her work. 

About the artist’s work: Adelle hickey’s work is a synergy between designs based on a narrative to create a visual atmosphere. Garment structures are for the most part central to the work, imaged using medical equipment, photography and more recently, mono-printing techniques.
Taking on a new role, the garment becomes a portrait to recognise and capture what is felt as well as what is seen. Dresses, aprons and shoes are key structures used in a variety of materials to represent the narrative. The garments are momentarily removed from the body to reflect upon a specific narrative and language. Sewing and knitting techniques are brought together in different materials and structures and recreated. The narrative looks closely at journeys and experiences in our lives reflecting upon the cycle of change, loss and recovery. The process of sewing and knitting creates the fabric of the work. Based on the premis that surface appearances often mask what is deeply felt, the garments are momentarily removed from the body to reflect upon a represent specific experiences. These made structures look closely at journeys in our lives such as loss and recovery.

Exhibitions
Absence of colour Taylor festival, Centre for Contemporary Art Carlow 2016
How do you know The blank space gallery Oakland California. 2014
Images research exhibition UCD 2011
Image of longing CCOI Kilkenny 2008
Wearable Un-wearable CCOI, Kilkenny 2007

https://www.dublininquirer.com/2016/06/08/curios-about-connections-by-adelle-hickey

From the McAllister Collection, at the Museum of Childhood Ireland