Living Thing
2015
A collaboration between Jackie O’Neill and Joe Doherty
Living Thing
Definition
noun
Any organism or a living form that possesses or shows the characteristics of life or being alive
Supplement
Living things are those that display the following characteristics
requires energy to survive or sustain existence
ability to reproduce
ability to grow
ability to metabolise
ability to respond to stimuli
ability to adapt to the environment
ability to move
ability to respire
Examples of living things include the bacteria, protozoa, plants, fungi, animals, humans, etc. Viruses are not absolutely living or non-living. When outside their host, viruses are inactive and seemingly inanimate. When inside their host, they became active and alive, capable of utilising the host cell's structures and replicate.
In this exhibition we are curious and fascinated by living things.
Every living thing has a shape, a form and a pattern - A Mandala.
What sort of shapes? Circle, Dyad, Triangle, Square, Pentagon, Hexagon, Spiral, Branch & Cycle.
Humans, plants and animals take on these shapes and patterns. You can find a shape and pattern in all circles of life: Foetus, Baby, Child, Adolescence, Adult, Old Age.
We grow, we peak, we deteriorate and finally, death, the end! Or is it?
“our lives are spiralling around us, generating and regenerating, expanding and contracting, pushing out and pulling in”
‘Circles go round and round but spirals suggest progression and growth, reaching continuously outward from the centre. Symbolising regeneration, renewal and rebirth, spirals have been observed in the nature of growth as-well as in the growth of nature”
Lori Bailey Cunningham
These self - replicative patterns are everywhere you look; In human behaviour, in the cycle of routine, in folklore and mythology passed down through the ages, in relationships between man and woman, ying and yang, mother and child, man and dog, bird and tree, water and air ….
We are all part of the same universe, the same pattern and cycle - The Mandala
The Mandala has been known about for many thousands of years in many ancient religions, cultures, art, architecture and has also been used to understand mathematics and the natural universe. Thus we are attracted to the mandalas because they are the core of who and what we are.
Within this body of work it is our intention to recognise and incorporate pattern and shapes in all living things. It comes together in our surroundings on Irish soil, in a circle with no beginning and no end.
All of the artworks from this collection are available to purchase as limited edition textile and paper prints over on my webshop. Click on each picture below to view the hand embroidered textile versions, to read the folklore story behind each piece & to purchase.
