IMAGE CREDITS | THROUGH THE EYE – SANDRA CORRIGAN BREATHNACH – PEPA MADRID – CURATED BY ANALÍA BELTRAN Í JANES
PERFORMANCE DOCUMENTATION | CARLOS FELICES
‘Through the Eye’ took place at P.E.P.A Curated by Analía Beltran í Janes at the ABM Confecciones Art Space, Madrid in October 2019, my performance was kindly sponsored by Culture Ireland.
IMAGE CREDITS | POSTER IMAGE FEATURING – SANDRA CORRIGAN BREATHNACH – BARE – MART 2018
PHOTOGRAPHY | GARRY HOBBERT
‘In 2019 I travelled to Madrid to make a piece for P.E.P.A. (Pequeño Evento De Performance Art). While there, two Spanish artists performed collaboratively, one revealing her physical form altered by medical surgery. She bared the scarring from a double mastectomy, it was a striking image. I could not watch all of their performance as I had to get prepared for my own.
The piece that I created was called ‘Through the Eye’ which related to the soul of the dead travelling through the eye of a mackerel. In the centre of a circle of salt surrounded by a ring of charcoal with five fish placed around the circumference, I crocheted twine and the tails of the fish together which I placed around my neck. I felt the skin of the fish press against my bare chest. I gathered fresh salt from the centre of the circle and slowly went over to each of the onlookers. Each waited to be given salt, which I poured gently into their hands. You could hear a pin drop. As I came close to the Spanish artist who had had the surgery our energies met and our heads intuitively came together. Even now in writing this I am transported back to that moment which was so very emotional, beautiful and poignant, that it is hard to put into words.’
An excerpt from text written on invitation from LADA (Live Art Development Agency)
to form part of their – Live Art Sector Research – by Sandra Corrigan Breathnach