Île d'Hiver | Winter Island > Ruth O'Donnell

Ruth O'Donnell

I began this project by making a whole series of drawings of small vessels in the National Museum. Working in that context I become very aware of the culture of archaeological scholarship and interpretation, how it fills artefacts with meaning. In my drawings, I followed the lines of small containers, cup and chalice, vessel and vase, across a time span from the earliest settlements to the Middle Ages, going on to rework these drawings as plates and then prints. At some point in the process, the work took on a life of its own. The more closely I looked at the particular and local the more it became timeless and universal. I printed the images in groups and folded these into cubes- new
containers for extended meanings.

Medieval Mindset, carborundum, 20.5 cm x 20.5 cm x 20.5 cm, Edition of 25, €500	Small Consolations, carborundum, 20.5 cm x 20.5 cm x 20.5 cm, Edition of 25, €500	Settlement, Prosperity, Culture, Fellowship, Meltdown, carborundum, 20.5 cm x 20.5 cm x 20.5 cm, Edition of 25, €500