ARTIST STATEMENT

I’ve rarely felt that I fully belonged in any of the places I’ve lived in, or visited. Growing up in Ireland I was bewildered by an environment dominated by the political instability and economic stagnation of the 1980s, where the inevitability of emigration loomed large. Since relocating to Boston in 1992 I have remained in exile, and though America has been good to me at times I’ve also felt at odds with the culture that surrounds me. Likewise on my many travels I continually find myself in places which I am eager to evacuate. This is despite the fact that wherever one goes one meets people who are convinced that their own little enclave is the most special place on earth. Occasionally I conclude that the problem is not necessarily the actual environment, but my own inability to adapt to it, and perhaps even my own sense of self worth. Then despite such rigorous self-examination, upon surveying my surroundings again I still arrive at the same conclusion—surely I was meant for better things
than this! In my art I seek to come to terms with the landscape and the individuals which I am confronted with, either personally or via the mass media. By manipulating composition and color I attempt to develop a utopia which perhaps only I am comfortable with. Much of my work is an exploration of such states as isolation, neglect, uncertainty, trust, anxiety, injustice, and occasionally, regeneration. In my quest for a sense of belonging I attempt to create beauty from the mundane, seeking a sort of redemption via the debris and indifference of neglect and ruin.

Shay Culligan