Digital art

Ash Seeds

| Irma Irsara

‘Ash Seeds’ (2015) evokes the ancient human significance of the ash tree and its fragility. The digital print is of constructed ice and plant material with seeds from an ash tree afflicted by Chalara dieback disease.

One of a series produced for Halse for hazel (Halse), a sequence of poems about trees, their languages and forms by Frances Presley (Shearsman Books). The images were reproduced in black and white in the book.

The collaboration took place during the final year of Presley’s project funded by the Arts Council and included research at the national collections of Kew Gardens and Wakehurst Place. Images and texts were exhibited as part of the exhibition ‘In the open’, at Murray Edwards College in Cambridge in 2015.

Available to buy from: irmairsara.bigcartel.com/product/ash-seeds

Signed/numbered
limited edition digital print
edition of 15

Epson archival inks on Somerset Velvet 300gsm paper

digital print of birch bark, dyed paper pulps, ice and shredded text

H 84.1 x W 59.4 cm

Zero Celsius – digital prints

| Irma Irsara

My current exhibition is at Resource for London, 356 Holloway Road, London N7 6PA until 27th March ’18 – exhibition statement below.

“The transparency of the material leads me to look closer, almost searching for and imaginary landscape inside the heart of the ice. I find ice is very similar to other materials I have used in the past like glass, mirror and pulp. When light enters the artwork, it makes the edges more defined and frees the boundaries between artwork and the surrounding space.”

Irma Irsara‘s work is influenced by an interest in environmental issues in a practice that embraces techniques as diverse as fibre art, stained glass bookmaking, print, video and installation. Within the context of the Anthropocene Epoch, where human activity has been the dominant influence in altering the geographical landscape, Irsara contemplates ideas of  symbiosis as a strategy for human survival. The symbiosis of organic materials with the ice is particularly significant. It is the moment when nature takes over and the artist becomes the observer of new forms.

The digital prints on display are a permanent record of the time-based, site-specific installation work created by the artist in 2013/14. This constantly changing and daily-renewed work was produced over a three week period in the former Victorian ice wells at the London Canal Museum, King’s Cross. Working with ice, a material very much associated with the theme of climate change, the work explores natural cycles and outcomes in relation to surrounding conditions and is intended as a starting point for debate. She has a fascination with the medium, from the fusing together of forms to the slow, imperceptible movement of embedded material – bark, melinex, wire lights – as the melting process progresses. She also examines the possibility of producing hollow forms of ice by utilizing the natural freezing process. This is further explored in her more recent time-lapse pieces. Irsara is intrigued by the notion of a precise moment of transformation and change of state.

Retina Diamond Leaf

| Irma Irsara

Diamond Leaf Retina

Retina Diamond Leaf, on show at Art at the Bridge 7 (Tower Bridge Engine Rooms), evolved from a collaboration with poet Frances Presley in 2015 and coincided with the publication of her anthology ‘Halse for Hazel’, funded by the Arts Council. The work incorporates the concept of bridges as neural networks along which sparks of light can travel. The drawing, superimposed on an inverted photo of the feminine hazel leaf, refers to the repairing of a damaged retina and the fear of losing the ability to see and connect which is described in Presley’s text.

Art at the Bridge #7

| Irma Irsara

Tower Bridge (Engine Rooms)  is showcasing the works of 15 female artists with the theme Building Bridges: The Female Perspective.

Celebrate female artistic endeavour  with Tower Bridges ‘Art at the Bridge’exhibition. Now in its seventh iteration, this long-running exhibition in partnership with Southwark Arts Forum will display the works of 15 female artists as they explore the theme of‘Building Bridges: The Female Perspective’.

The exhibition aims to reflect upon female perspectives in the community, providing a platform for artists to express their ideas through a variety of media including paintings, etchings, video, photography and drawing.

Each of the artists have drawn inspiration from their own experiences and these artworks offer a striking contrast to the huge and beautifully maintained steam engines that surround them.

The exhibition runs from March 8 to July 31, 2016 and admission will be included in the entry for Tower Bridge Exhibition (Adults: £9; Children aged 5-15: £3.90; Concessions: £6.30; Family tickets from £14.10; Under 5s free). The experience visiting the high-level Walkways has now been bolstered with the addition of the new glass floor, which gives visitors a unique perspective of London 42 meters above the Thames. The nearest underground stations are London Bridge or Tower Hill.