Irma Irsara

River Net – preview and live talk

| Irma Irsara

Come and join me for a preview of my current project at London Bridge Hive this September.

River Net is my new time-lapse work-in-progress which looks at the intermingling of natural and synthetic matter, our relationship with the materials we produce and their impact on the river.

In the work, I use material recovered from the Thames with a particular emphasis on plastic food netting. I’m interested in the ambiguity of something developed in part for its aesthetic appeal but which, after single use, becoming unwanted and damaging to the natural environment.

By repurposing it, I examine how much of the original, artificial beauty it retains whilst reflecting on how it might compromise the life of a river.

“What I call ‘plastic coral’ attaches itself everywhere and to everything, breaking down over time into minute pieces that remain in our waters, rivers and oceans. It finds its way inside fish, animals, insects and humans, in all eco-systems even down to the very phylum of plants”

On 22 September I’ll be presenting a lunchtime screening of a 15-minute video preview of the on-going ‘River Net’ project, followed by a Talk and Q&A. Throughout the day, the video will continue to run on a loop, and I will be available to engage and discuss with visitors. I look forward to seeing you all there.

RIVER NET Thursday 22nd Sep 2022

  • 12.30 – 1.30 Talk
  • 1.30pm – 7pm Meet the Artist – drop in

London Bridge Hive, 8 Holyrood Street, first floor, London, SE1 2EL

River Net is Supported by Team London Bridge and Totally Thames Festival.

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INTERVALS Press Release

| Irma Irsara

16 May 2022

UK artist Irma Irsara presents her brand new works at Tabernacle Gallery on the
occasion of ‘Intervals’ exhibition opening in June.

Water Levels 1 (2021) – 31 x 51 cm, cotton fibre, dyes

On June 7th, Irma Irsara, contemporary Italian artist who lives and works in London, will present her latest artworks at the Tabernacle Gallery on the occasion of the summer exhibition, Intervals.

Irma will be exhibiting three of her latest projects with centrepiece of the show, Accendo la luce, nasce l’ombra (2021), a large installation work, consisting of 72 panels and created using a dedicated papermaking technique, being presented for the first time. A selection from Irsara’s recent Water Level Series relating to ecological and environmental themes and created using the same paper pulp technique will also be debuted. Finally, the artist will be showing a time-lapse digital video work, originally created for the exhibition Earth is Calling at the Crypt Gallery in 2019, part of which was also shown at the Bargehouse for Totally Thames, Foragers of the Foreshore exhibition.

Accendo la luce, nasce l’ombra (2021), is inspired by notions of loss of connectivity and nostalgia for past encounters leading to feelings of isolation and vulnerability. At the same time, it explores the shared life experiences and the sense of equality that certain phenomena create, uniting people while keeping them apart.
The shift in the perception of time as a result of the pandemic, led the artist to change her outlook: instead of working towards a precise event or end point, she found herself reimagining outcomes by revisiting the past, looking at old work and notebooks, and extracting significant words and phrases in a process of re-evaluation.
Irsara worked extensively on this work over the lockdown periods, forming a composite wall piece that consists of separate panels with embossed lettering, using letterpress printing on a book binding press. Each standalone piece becomes part of the overall installation – a wall of fragments incorporating old sayings with scraps of personal, nostalgic thought. The words are deliberately intended to have possible multiple meanings to reflect diverse responses to a common experience and evoke an imagined future.

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Paper Pulp Process + Giveaway

| Irma Irsara

Today – Thursday 11 November – I’ll be giving away a mail-art edition of 25 pieces at 12 noon on a first-come-first served basis. All I ask in return is £2 P&P to comply with Big Cartel rules.
NOTE: FRAME NOT INCLUDED

Follow the link below to get yours.

http://irmairsara.bigcartel.com/product/srata-in-blu-blue-strata-2021

STRATA IN BLU (2021)

Multiple of 25 numbered and signed on reverse

Paper pulp (cotton linters), dyes, lino printing
11(H) x 15(W) cm

Strata in Blu

| Irma Irsara

STRATA IN BLU
Solo noi siamo il volto del nostro tempo

I’ll be doing a mail-art giveaway in 9 days time (Thursday 11 Nov, 12 noon)
An edition of 25 paper pulp/lino pieces will be made available on a first-come-first-served basis. Details of the piece below and a link nearer the time.

Multiple of 25 numbered and signed on reverse

Paper pulp (cotton linters), dyes, lino printing
11(H) x 15(W) cm

The furrows, created by stripping away embedded hollow paper strips from the pulp layers, depict water level marks and indicators of wider changes. I included the intermittent imprint of knots in the paper to denote the interruption to the natural flow of water.

Accenda la luce, nasce l’ombra

| Irma Irsara

Loss of connectivity and nostalgia for past encounters and associations can lead to feelings of isolation and vulnerability. At the same time, shared life experiences creates a new social equality that connects us even though we’re kept apart.

The shift in the perception of time over the last year led to a change in my outlook. Instead of working towards a precise event or end point, I found myself looking backwards, reimagining outcomes by revisiting the past.

  • burst

I looked at past work and notebooks, extracting significant words and phrases in a process of re-evaluation. I also worked on the project Accenda la luce, nasce l’ombra over the lockdown periods, a composite wall piece consisting of 72 sections with embossed and printed lettering using letterpress type and book binding press. Each standalone piece becomes part of the overall installation – a wall of fragments and random thoughts incorporating old sayings with scraps of personal nostalgic thought. The words are deliberately intended to have possible multiple meanings to reflect diverse responses to a common experience and to evoke an imagined future.

Hidden Femininity

| Irma Irsara

 

The collographs features in this post, based on ethnic garments, were part of a series created for my exhibition Hidden Femininity (Filef Centre 1996). They were developed during my collaboration Automatic Cross Stitch with poet Frances Presley, which looked at the rag trade in North London (N4) run mostly by Greek and Turkish owners.

I was interested in hidden women workers, working illegally in the garment industry in North London during the early nineties. I focused on those working in the factories in and around Finsbury Park mostly run by Turkish and Greek families. In order to gain access, I worked in one of the factories for a number of weeks cutting the loose threads off the finished garments.

I would often see women who couldn’t afford childcare bringing in their babies to work and hiding them from view in their work area. I observed one woman taking secret breaks to breastfeed her child. They were also instructed to disappear if the inspectors arrived.

The women I saw were mostly Indian and Eastern European who relied on the work for their survival and whose circumstances resulted in their exploitation.

The factories have disappeared from the area due to regeneration.

Details of the artworks:
available from irmairsara.bigcartel.com

Cintura (belt) 1996
Collograph using material (factory off-cuts), card with stitching, coloured tissue, rolled colour (oil).
One of three variations from the same card plate, so each one unique.

Print size: 12.5(H) x 30(W) cm
Paper size: 19(H) x 35(W) cm

Punto riso per una sposina (Rice Stitch for a Bride) 1996

One-colour embossed collograph (card plate) of a child’s knitted jumper.
AP1 Artist proof 1 of 2 variations / no edition

print size: 21(H) x 48(W) cm
paper size: 28.5(H) x 57(W) cm

Guanti per sposina (Gloves for a Bride) 1996

One-colour embossed collograph (card plate) using wedding gloves.
AP2 Artist proof 2 of 3 / no edition

print size: 31(H) x 22(W) cm
paper size: 44(H) x 27(W) cm

Irlandese con currach

| Irma Irsara

Irlandese con currach
(Irish with currach) 1990

A companion piece to ‘Verso l’isola di Murano‘, ‘Irlandese con currach’ uses a precise palate of earthy colours to comment on ideas of tradition and survival linked to landscape.

Both pieces have similarities in theme but they are also preoccupied with captured light. In this piece, the fresh strong green that reflects back the light is particularly important and represents a response to an area with a unique visual identity.

Details:

Price £70 (multiple) offered as part of #artistsupportpledge initiative.

unframed price

Limited edition 2 plate etching
Aquatint, sugar-lift, aquaforte, rolled colour

2/50 – number 2 of an edition of 50

Paper: Somerset White Texture 300gsm

Print size: H 15 cm x W 15 cm
Paper size: H 25.5 cm x W 25 cm

Suggested framed dimensions:
H 31 x W 31 cm (min)

Available at:
http://irmairsara.bigcartel.com/product/irlandese-con-curraghs

Artist info:
https://irmairsara.com/about.htm

I’ll be offering further work for £200 or under and will pledge to use 20% of every £1000 raised to purchase a piece myself or as a donation to one of the art charities supported by the scheme.

About the scheme:
#artistsupportpledge is an artist-led movement and network to support artists struggling financially during Covid 19 using the social media platform Instagram.
Full details: artistsupportpledge.com

Porous

| Irma Irsara

Porous refers to the filtering of a feminine aesthetic that runs throughout the book. Using basic shapes within the images – spiral, triangle, circle, square – my aim was to transform the masculinity of the four elements.

I used various materials to imprint patterns into the softground – materials that relate to ideas of feminism, liberation and empowerment. These include lace from old dresses and, more importantly, tights, significant as they derive from hose originally worn by European men, subsequently appropriated by women.

Materials from women’s fashion are also a reference to the clothes factories local to me at the time but now gone (around Fontill Road, North London) which were predominantly Greek and Turkish.

The single words, produced with photo etching, were suggested by Frances Presley as counterpoints to the imagery

Offered for £150 as part of #artistsupportpledge

Limited edition artists book with hand-printed etchings
13/20 – number 13 in edition of 20
(number 1 was purchased by British Library, Modern Contemporary Collection)

Linen-coated hard cover
Stitch bound – printed back and front

8 pages + blank inside covers
8 x 2 plate etchings total – 1 per page
Etchings are aquaforte, sugar lift, aquatint, soft ground incorporating colour tissue (Chine-collé)

single word texts are etched on shaped plates

book size 16.5 x 16.5 cm
page size 16 x 16 cm

About the scheme:
#artistsupportpledge is an artist-led movement and network to support artists struggling financially during Covid 19 using Instagram.
Full details: artistsupportpledge.com