Corral was made as a response, an intuitive reaction to The Rise and the Fall by Liz Magor. It started with a desire to seek out the objects, things and scraps of material gathered in bags or in boxes around my house and studio. Things that I or my family had finished with but which were left in a purgatory of sorts. As a collection, they had a strange sense of connectedness. Exploring and arranging these things, but with no particular outcome in mind, I was reminded of a sea worm I came across on holiday in Brittany. A ‘decorator’ or ‘plumed’ worm, in order to produce a skin or home for itself, corrals the scraps of shells and other materials it finds in its immediate vicinity – producing a beautiful, delicately layered coat.

Before seeing the exhibition I had met with Liz as she was installing the work. This too influenced my approach to working with these materials. On my mind were some of the things we talked about – the notion of being non-judgemental in the context of art making, Phyllida Barlow’s laugh and enthusiasm, the sense of openness and joy in Liz’s approach to her work, the specificity of culture and location on material gathering – were all abstracted but guiding forces.

The film and postcard that make up Corral document the object I made as a result of this process.

Caoimhe Kilfeather
Dublin, Summer 2023

Caoimhe Kilfeather’s work is predominantly sculptural. Exhibitions sometimes take the form of an environment – the creation of a ‘new place’. Such installations have a reflective presence; they are sparsely appointed with crafted objects that are charged with thoughts, memories and other associations.

Kilfeather is based in Dublin. Her work is held in numerous collections such as the National Gallery of Ireland, Irish Museum of Modern Art, the Arts Council and Office of Public Works. She lectures in Sculpture and Combined Media at the Limerick School of Art and Design.

The Response Series generates collaborations between experts, researchers, and artists not only across disciplines but also across methodologies and approaches to research and practice, with a view to creating new experiences and forms of knowledge.

Image: Caoimhe Kilfeather, Corral (video still), 2023. Courtesy of the artist.