Tara Moran-Woods
Tara Moran-Woods is a visual artist originally from London and currently based in Co. Fermanagh since 1994. She received a degree in Fine Art at Sligo Institute of Technology, graduating in 2006.
More commonly associated with craft, decoration, fashion and kitsch, I employ the use of crochet to create sculptures and installations resembling figures, everyday objects. Sourcing found materials, documenting, cataloguing, and arranging items and scenes of interest, the unseen, unnoticed, ordinary, routine, daily life.
Frequently my work incorporates stitching and crochet to recreate what the found objects might once have been, re-piecing, rearranging, and mending the disregarded or lost. Drawings on photographs are made from studies of the natural environment, blurring the lines between materials and processes. Creating positive and negative spaces and surfaces through mark making.
Tara Moran-Woods is a visual artist living and working in Co. Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. In 2006 Tara graduated from Sligo Institute of Technology with a Degree in Fine Art. She has exhibited throughout Ireland. Solo exhibitions have included ARTTANK Gallery - Belfast (2008), Higher Bridges Gallery - Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh (2008), Teach Bán Nua Gallery - Sligo (2009). A two person show at Mad Art Gallery, Dublin (2011) and she was selected for a three person show at The Context Gallery, Derry in 2010. She has also been on residency at Belmont Mill and Artists’ Studios, Co. Offaly (2009) and The Tyrone Guthrie Centre (2012, 2008). Group Exhibitions include Ormston House, Limerick (2013) RHA Annual, Dublin 2011 and the RUA Annual, Belfast (2009).
Statement
My practice mainly concerns installation art, frequently using crochet and wool as a drawing material or sculptural medium. Challenging the association of crochet with domestic craft and introducing this into a contemporary art environment. Other areas of interest include sourcing found materials, traces people leave behind, questioning their owner’s identity. Documenting, cataloguing, rearranging, Re-piecing the unseen, unnoticed, ordinary, disregarded or lost. Email chain letters and the decline of the hand written and communication, have been subjects of recent sculptures. Peculiar, ironic, language or imagery found in everyday life from buildings, advertising, media have also influenced past and recent work. I am currently researching the routine life of the visually impaired, managing daily tasks and memory,