10,000 to 50
I am delighted that my work 'Movement' (detail below) has been selected to be on show in the upcoming exhibition 10,000 to 50, which will be held in the Irish Museum of Modern Art Dublin.
The exhibition reflects the collecting support of the Irish private and public sectors for contemporary visual art in Ireland over the last 20 years. More than 10,000 works were considered with 50 being selected for the exhibition.
The work will be on show at IMMA from 30th April to 4th August 2008.
The exhibition is jointly curated by Christina Kennedy, Senior Curator: Head of Collections, IMMA; Karen Sweeney, Assistant Curator: Exhibitions, IMMA and Jenny Haughton, independent curator.
Biography
Katherine Penney is a contemporary printmaker and photographer based in Northern Ireland. Her work flows effortlessly using both traditional print techniques, and cutting edge technology. From acid etching to photo intaglio using digital imagery, her combination of photography and printmaking creates an interesting fusion, which brings the boundaries of the two mediums closer together.
As a young artist, Katherine has already laid the foundations of a solid career path. She has exhibited in Belfast, London, France, Germany and China. Following her final year sell out degree show, Katherine was invited to show her work in the Royal Ulster Academy. In addition, she was awarded a year's bursary from Belfast Print Workshop to continue making work. Katherine's work is held in public and private collections including the University of Ulster Permanent Collection.
Artist's Statement
Time plays a large role within the work, not just within the subject matter, but also the actual making process. Occasionally the work that is created gives an aged, antique impression. Printmaking is the perfect medium to convey this preciousness and by using new and up to date methods, it brings this historic medium into the twenty-first century.
When I make work I rarely make individual pieces, I tend work on a theme, which has a narrative line for the audience to follow.
I worked on a series connected to issues of time, and instead of looking at the flaws ageing creates I focused on the beauty that it holds. So often age is seen negatively as deterioration and decay, with my work I wanted to show that despite this fragility there remains charm and appeal.
The light images are based on people's approach to living. The beam of light is symbolic of the journey they take to reach their goals. Sometimes to move forward you need to move sideways.
More recently my work has become a lot darker in nature. By looking at strange and unusual phobias people have, I purposely created work that is both jocular and inquisitive. There is a slightly unsettling thread throughout this series that links it together. The work is inviting with a sense of foreboding, sinister but strangely entertaining. Are these phobias as irrational as one initially thought? In this series of work I want to highlight how things in life are not always black and white and how so often there is a very fine line between two extremes.