'My photographic voice is the way that I see the world', says Siobhan

Here she speaks to The Impartial Reporter about her biggest influences, what art means to her and her most ambitious piece to date.

JC: What is your artistic background? Are you self-taught or did you go to art school/do courses?

SF: I graduated from the University of Ulster with a First Class (Hons) Photography and Video. My most recent project was a psychology enquiry collecting memories that pinpoint places in the landscape where important moments happened, evoking a sense of time and location through Film and Photography.

JC: What inspires your art?

SF: My photographic voice is the way that I see the world as my passion for travel has informed my life decisions, dreams and ambitions creating a visual language that is unique to me.

JC: Who/what are your biggest influences?

SF: Ana Mendieta’s (1948 to 1985) approach has inspired and greatly influenced my own photographic practice with expression and identity of land, she wanted to leave her mark in nature reconnecting with the earth in this space, she felt that through art her interactions with nature and work in the landscape would help facilitate the transition between her homeland and new home.

Elina Broutherus' work displays self-portraits typically investigating the relationship between individual and space as her motifs and themes are usually concerned with reflection for instance in the points of view of the landscape where she shows the role of the perspective in the way we perceive the world. Revealing and hiding as the vision is an important feature in her photography always wanting to see what the portrait and landscape looks like dealing with watching and observation, her photographs has a distanced relationship to the person in her work.

JC: Is there a specific place that you do your work?

SF: The land as I am a landscape visual artist. I bring elements of land art into my work but make it unique with construction and deconstruction making it an art form while walking, capturing still and moving image.

JC: What has been your most ambitious piece to date?

SF: Water border performance video piece, which ran on a continual loop for 19 mins in the video performance piece of dismantling and building a dividing line with heightened tension in the music to express strong divides that are invisible to me, examining the nature of identity within in between spaces. Today, I continue to be inspired by nature, finding a creative outlet in the process of photographing landscapes.

JC: What different artistic mediums do you use and which is your favourite?

SF: Contemporary art photographers are framing the social world in an expressive reflective manner, attention is paid here “If this is Art” considering how photographers have devised strategies, performances and happenings especially for the camera with attention paid to the degree to which the focus has been preconceived by the photographer, a strategy designed not only to alter the way we think of our space and place in the social world. I really enjoying working still and moving image.

JC: What are you currently working on?

SF: I am currently working on sound which can enhance or distract a whole piece of work although Ambient sound music represented as coming from instruments in the story space I feel can add an emotional impact to the piece. Adding authenticity to sound effects with a choice of bird sounds and carefully planned nature and vocal choice can add to the mood of the project.

JC: Do you exhibit your work anywhere?

SF: My most recent exhibition as part of Fermanagh Live festival displaying video and still images and a solo exhibition Cadiz, Spain.

JC: What has been your favourite project to date?

SF: Ulysses 682 which inspired me to take a walk-through Gibraltar to capture my own autobiographical view of the familiar control 'Britain' and 'exit'/ Brexit has on the subconscious of people living there.

JC: How would you describe your artistic style?

SF: In many ways, I relate to my work as autobiographical artwork like we relate to other people. By exploring the events and experiences from my private life through visual material, autobiographical artist, I feel encourages viewers to respond using their own life. Rooted in self-reflection, this interactive dialogue is a powerful instrument for critically examining visual discourse and doubles as a process for better understanding the self.

The process of my work to date takes a contemporary approach in a space and environment to express abstract forms and movement in the body, self-portrait and a way to heal from past and present occurrences.

JC: What does art mean to you?

SF: My life.