Past Residents Blaine O’Donnell
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Blaine O'Donnell, Untitled (PANEL 1), (installation view, hinder / further, The Complex, Dublin, Ireland), 2022. Photo by Kate Bowe O’Brien
Blaine O’Donnell is an artist working primarily in sculpture. His work is concerned with questions that emerge when something becomes something else.
Taking an experimental approach to the materials and debris of photography, architecture and geology, he investigates the art object as a starting point for tracing networks of relationships between objects, humans and places. Contrasting materials are used in new ways, making space for material agency and chance.
In a time of increasing dematerialisation and alienation from natural rhythms and shared ecosystems, O’Donnell explores artistic practice as a method of engendering moments of connection and affinity, revelation and wonder.
During the HIAP Residency, I will conduct research into the photographic potential of natural materials and structures on Suomenlinna Island and its surrounds. I will explore biological, hydrological, architectural and geological materials and processes on site, with specific interests in algae, terrestrial plants, saltwater minerals, and iron deposits. This research will provide the material vocabulary for playful experimentation, with the aim of producing new speculative work at the intersection of sculpture and photography.
Blaine O’Donnell’s residency at HIAP is realized in context of a residency exchange between HIAP and Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, Dublin, with the support of The Arts Council of Ireland and Finnish Institute in London.