Dream Map: Meet the Artists - Owen Kelly
As our Dream Map Project* unfolds, I will be featuring artists taking part in this collaborative piece of art. Today, we hear from Owen Kelly, a 5th Generation Stitcher based in Ireland who has been creating stitchwork for over 50 years. Owen uses intuitive subconscious symbolism drawn from classical & contemporary experiences in a distinctive "Flow Stitch" technique, combining intense and diverse stitches & a strong use of colour along with surreal sardonic humour.
Owen's dream "Quilt Dream" was made with reused denim, cotton thread and artist silk.
Interview with Owen:
How did you come to textile work, and what is the meaning of textile art in your life?
Just to clarify, I don't generally refer to myself as a “Textile Artist,” even though that is what a lot of people regard me as. I regard myself simply as a “stitcher.” I was introduced to embroidery at the age of 5 according to my mum. I have no memory of starting to stitch, it has always been a part of my life, just something I do. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother, she lived with us and was very deaf. She would sit in her sitting room with her canvas on a stretcher and I would sit with a hoop, and she would tell me stories about her life. She often told me of her childhood and told me that her mother and her governess had taught her to embroider and she had a number of examples of her grandmother's embroidery. This makes me at least a 5th generation stitcher.
Stitching has always been there for me, it is a creative outlet, allowing me to express myself through imagery and symbolism, in the same way that poetry can be used to describe one's emotions. It is also a form of meditation and enables me to reflect on my inner and outer world. I use it as a way of communicating between my conscious and subconscious mind. In recent years I have developed a physical disability, which gives me a certain amount of pain and mental anxiety in my life and I have found that my stitching practice has helped me deal with both these aspects.
Being physically restricted has impacted on my social life, but in the last couple of years I have enjoyed meeting many new people through sharing my work on social media, consequently I have found people, with a shared interest, within Facebook Groups and Instagram. It is how I became aware of the Dream Map Project.
Can you share the significance of the Dream Map for you?
I am not sure I can answer this question in specific terms. Within my creative practice I am instinctive and intuitive. I don't normally plan or draw out designs or ideas, I set up my material, I have an initial concept and I stitch with intent. The result is often unexpected and I feel as a witness to.the creation.
I received a message asking if I would be interested in the Dream Map Project. I had been thinking about dreams and their influence on my work. I often wake up inspired to create, I have numerous examples. One is a major project I started last year to handstitch 100 panels to create a quilt or wall hanging, I am currently at 88 and expect I will complete the rest in the next couple of months. Most of the individual panels have narratives and many of those originated within my dreams.
I like to think of myself as sensitive to my surroundings and the interconnected aspects of life and opportunity. The planet speaks and only if we quieten the ego do we hear it. Arachne spins her thread, the Fates weave our destiny and Hypnos guides our dreams while the Muses inspire.
I sail in the waters off Serendip, I really enjoy collaborating and my friend Seamus O'Comanssey was also touring around Australia
Do you have a dreamwork practice?
I don't currently have any formal dream practice. I have experimented with a number of different practices throughout my life. Dream control, dreamscaping, dream analyse using Freudian and Jungian theory, as well as a number of cultural practices and alternative states. The use of individual subconscious symbolism is a core aspect of my creative process.
What impact have dreams had in your creative journey?
I would say they have had a major impact on my creative journey. The processing of conscious experience and memory through the subconscious mind is a fundamental aspect of my creativity. I believe that dreams enable me to access an ancestral understanding and insight into the realm of the waking state.
What is your creative method?
Not to sound facetious but I don't know. For me the process is ethereal. I think it is something I am constantly learning about and if I try and define it, it changes the nature of it. My process is to not think about it too much. I don't plan or try and construct for when I do it seems to lose the aspect I most enjoy. I can technically make whatever I want but I feel I am then imposing my conscious and not allowing the freedom of my whole mind that I so enjoy when creating. I call my preferred creative method “Flow Stitchin’.”
What is the importance of nature for you?
What an extraordinary question! How important is it that I breathe, eat, live! It implies there is an alternative? As far as I am aware, I am part of nature, nature is part of me. So, yes, pretty important.
It makes me wonder if I have misunderstood the question?
I live in a remote part of Ireland. I live surrounded by flora & fauna. I have built a garden that sustains me both physically and mentally, my sanctuary. I have taught myself the names and studied the habits of hundreds of the birds, bees, beetles and bugs that I share this space with. The Atlantic Ocean is my neighbour, the wind, rain,and sun nourishes and moulds the land. I gaze in wonder at the moon, planets and stars that illuminate the night sky. I mark & celebrate the changing seasons as have my ancestors for thousands of years. Without nature there is nothing but a bare lifeless rock floating in infinite space.
Can you share the best advice you've ever received?
Enjoy our other Dream Map artist features: