Artist statement

My work explores the role of art within grieving communities. I was sixteen years old when I lost my brother Séan in a motorcycle accident in 2002, I found there was no way to navigate loss, I found this later in my arts practice. I have experienced the benefit of creating art to process loss and had seen how this process could benefit others. The Freebird’s motorcycle club are my brothers and friends, together we have lost three of our members due to road traffic accidents. In ‘Freebirds M.C.C Project’ we co-created a short film, artworks made from recycled motorbike parts and an archival exhibition. We spent two years working together exploring grief in a creative context.

The seventeen events sharing the ‘Freebirds M.C.C Project’ has opened spaces for conversations about loss with the wider community. At the first screening of the film Freebird’s when the credits rolled the audience of 210 could be heard crying, later that evening one of the motorcyclists in attendance whispered in my ear that the film gave him the space to cry. I am interested in creating a space where people can connect with each other through the shared experience of loss. I hold a unique vantage point as professional artist and sister in this community with the lived experience of losing my brother and many friends in road traffic accidents.

There is an urgency to continue the conversation about the experience of loss in an environment where people feel connected. There is a deep isolating feeling that occurs within grief and I believe that community engagement has great power to help people navigate loss.

I have seen first-hand how the ‘Freebirds MCC Project’ has positively impacted the community who created the work and the wider communities who have engaged with the work. This type of work has the power to open safe places where trauma can be explored. Bessel Van Der Kolk writes about healing from trauma in his book ‘The body Keeps the Score’ “Language gives us the power to change ourselves and others by communicating our experiences, helping us to define what we know, and finding a common sense of meaning’.

Grief has a ripple effect throughout communities. People who have not yet experienced grief take inspiration from other people’s ability to cope with loss. It is almost a curious searching for signs of strength where people question how they would withstand the sheer pain of losing.

I believe that art creates a place for hope and creative engagement can diminish the isolation of grief. In her book All about Love, Bell Hooks wrote, “Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.” —