Elsewhere - Wandesford Quay Gallery, 2017

The depth of experience that traverses the artists’ work must surely have had a transformative effect on the student experience. The artists evolving and enduring ability to extricate subtlety of theme through considered execution of the artwork, chimed with the site-specific context. One of the students, Orla O’Byrne, reflected on her experience of the elsewhere project while working with artist Sean Hanrahan. ‘I am convinced that the informal discussions in the artist’s studio had a beneficial effect on my studio work’ she says, ‘It was also a chance to test what I’ve been learning over the past three years in the context of a real art practice. It was really good for an art student to be in that environment.’

Mark Ewart, backwaterartists.ie