HIDDEN from VIEW
This art installation was exhibited as part of When Silience Falls and the Waterford Memories project in Waterford Institute of Technology the former St. Mary's Magdalene Laundry. It pays homage to the 62 known women who lived and died behind the walls of The Sisters of the Good Shepherd Magdalene Laundry in New Ross, Co. Wexford.
Bars of fat melted by heated irons expose etched names. The layering of laundry materials acts as a metaphor exemplifying the daily routine of repetition endured by the Magdalene’s. It demonstrates how through a process of ritual the Magdalene performs her new identity. A life spent toiling and labouring hour after hour, this act of ritual enables control over an individual’s time and space. Ritual practices are the production of power relations and “act upon the actions of others” (Bell, 1992). Utilising mixed media, complex emotions and memories are triggered by a sensory cue evoking an emotive and thoughtful response from the viewer.
Smeared glass within a locked window frame reminiscent of steam and sweat paired with an empty, cold and uninviting fireplace reiterate a sense of ambiguous loss.
Hidden from view, and then buried in a mass unmarked grave, they remained anonymous until in recent years details of 62 of these women were recorded. A headstone was later erected at the graveside in St. Stephen’s Cemetery, New Ross, acknowledging the birth names of 62 women thus partially restoring their identities. This art installation offers an allegorical representation of the ritual which flooded the overall fabric of the Magdalene Laundry system.
This art installation was exhibited as part of When Silience Falls and the Waterford Memories project in Waterford Institute of Technology the former St. Mary's Magdalene Laundry. It pays homage to the 62 known women who lived and died behind the walls of The Sisters of the Good Shepherd Magdalene Laundry in New Ross, Co. Wexford.
Bars of fat melted by heated irons expose etched names. The layering of laundry materials acts as a metaphor exemplifying the daily routine of repetition endured by the Magdalene’s. It demonstrates how through a process of ritual the Magdalene performs her new identity. A life spent toiling and labouring hour after hour, this act of ritual enables control over an individual’s time and space. Ritual practices are the production of power relations and “act upon the actions of others” (Bell, 1992). Utilising mixed media, complex emotions and memories are triggered by a sensory cue evoking an emotive and thoughtful response from the viewer.
Smeared glass within a locked window frame reminiscent of steam and sweat paired with an empty, cold and uninviting fireplace reiterate a sense of ambiguous loss.
Hidden from view, and then buried in a mass unmarked grave, they remained anonymous until in recent years details of 62 of these women were recorded. A headstone was later erected at the graveside in St. Stephen’s Cemetery, New Ross, acknowledging the birth names of 62 women thus partially restoring their identities. This art installation offers an allegorical representation of the ritual which flooded the overall fabric of the Magdalene Laundry system.
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Copyright © 2014 by Nancy Rochford-Flynn
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All rights reserved. This website or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist.