We all undertake journeys of some sort in life - be they spiritual, physical emotional or cerebral. Of course you don't have to be an artist to enter upon these, but Aoife Desmond's mixed media artworks do provide her with a vehicle for documenting or trying to make sense of them.
Essentially the exhibition is split into two separate, but closely related series. The first, "The Stolen Anthropology of Self", sees the artist collecting and arranging a number of images which relate to various ethnic rituals and beliefs. Text, written characters and graphic symbols are woven throughout and offer thoughts and commentary behind the images.
The second series, "Ulysses; Washing Through the Darkness", although less eyecatching due to use of black and white imagery and photocopies, somehow seems to be more lyrical and pensive. The starting point is Joyce's text, and the artist sets the scene around the authors' description of Sandymount Strand. A woman features in a number of blurry photographs and is playing to a camera held perhaps by a new husband or a holiday-making friend, during halcyon days of summer. Although there is no indication, the snaps give the impression that this nameless woman was or is related to the artist, who is also in some way, reliving this past.
But if there is a personal narrative it remains understated, or at least expressed in the third person, to deflect direct association. This separation translates into the artwork's production, as the surfaces are sparser and even more delicate than her last exhibition. But truly the gaps make sense, as for any journey; something must remain behind to allow for clearer contemplation.
Runs until April 21st