Gail Ritchie, born Newtownards, Northern Ireland. Previously a member of Cork Artists Collective and Backwater Artists Group Cork before relocating to Belfast and joining Queen Street Studios , in 2003. Has exhibited extensively throughout Ireland and increasingly internationally in China, Berlin, Mexico, Spain and Lithuania.
Artist’s Statement Although no longer working in the field as an archaeological excavator, my work plays with the traditions and conventions of both visual art and archaeology, allowing both procedures to interlink and interfere with each other. There is a scientific element to the work reflecting a quest into the truth about death and decay. The visual language used must be as unflinching as forensics and the technique used to produce images or sculpture reflects this. The image is distilled and free from nostalgia. Artefacts and animals which hold an aura of memory and meaning and which may be enigmatic in terms of cultural and mythological associations intrigue me. The work draws on many references, cultural and historical and operates across a variety of means from installation, to photography to sound and object based pieces. I recycle motifs throughout my work, in whichever media, and this reflects how the nature of meaning is fluid and changing. The recombination of motifs energises possibilities within the narratives. In this respect, all work to date is work in progress, a circular exploration of memory and memorial.
Floodgate 1. Gail Ritchie. 2009
Homboldthain Flak Tower. Gail Ritchie. 2009
Gesundbrunnen Bunker. Gail Ritchie. 2009
Floodgate 10. Gail Ritchie. 2009
Artist’s Statement Although no longer working in the field as an archaeological excavator, my work plays with the traditions and conventions of both visual art and archaeology, allowing both procedures to interlink and interfere with each other. There is a scientific element to the work reflecting a quest into the truth about death and decay. The visual language used must be as unflinching as forensics and the technique used to produce images or sculpture reflects this. The image is distilled and free from nostalgia. Artefacts and animals which hold an aura of memory and meaning and which may be enigmatic in terms of cultural and mythological associations intrigue me. The work draws on many references, cultural and historical and operates across a variety of means from installation, to photography to sound and object based pieces. I recycle motifs throughout my work, in whichever media, and this reflects how the nature of meaning is fluid and changing. The recombination of motifs energises possibilities within the narratives. In this respect, all work to date is work in progress, a circular exploration of memory and memorial.
Floodgate 1. Gail Ritchie. 2009
Homboldthain Flak Tower. Gail Ritchie. 2009
Gesundbrunnen Bunker. Gail Ritchie. 2009
Floodgate 10. Gail Ritchie. 2009
Memorial 12 (Pozieres). Gail Ritchie. 2009
