Shetland: An Archaeology of the Unknown

VAI MEMBER JACKIE FLANAGAN OUTLINES A RECENT BODY OF TAR PAINTINGS MADE IN RESPONSE TO SCOTLAND’S ARCHIPELAGIC LANDSCAPE.

Jackie Flanagan, Shetland: An Archaeology of the Unknown VI, 2022, tar on canvas; photograph by Jackie Flanagan.

Jackie Flanagan, Shetland: An Archaeology of the Unknown II, 2022, tar on canvas; photograph by Jackie Flanagan.

SHETLAND: AN ARCHAEOLOGY of the Unknown i-vii (2022) is my latest endeavour as an artist and archaeologist to showcase the similarities between these two disciplines. I think, going forward, I might just call myself an ‘artaeologist’ and be done with it! Having graduated from UCD (1996) and NCAD (2003), I embraced the world in my early days as a fresh-faced multidisciplinary graduate with no real solid inclination of the interdisciplinary nature of both subjects. These were my misspent days, adorned with archaeologist’s trowel in one hand and artist’s paintbrush in the other.

That essential missing link that I was seeking was hiding in plain sight; it simply lay in my hands. Whether dipping hands into paint or soil, artaeology is a messy discipline but it helps to strengthen one’s tactility. My hands instinctively know the materiality of my medium. They know where to break the soil and dig some more; where to remove areas of paint in an act of positive destruction. My hands occupy a gateway to revealing what lies beneath and beyond – an archaeology of the unknown. They expose artefacts and give expression to inner creative realms. They create today’s art to become tomorrow’s artefact and are custodians of a material culture yet to be held and understood.

The Shetland series is in many ways an analogy between an archaeological and geological investigation of deep time and the depths of the subconscious. This series consists of seven ‘archaeological/ geological’ samples, identical in size (12 x 8cm). During the summer of 2015, I spent time in Orkney exploring its archaeology and made an impromptu visit to Shetland. Everything seemed to get darker and deeper as I flew over the North Sea. I was truly in the subarctic and surrounded by ancient Caledonian rock.

On my return to Ireland, I rummaged through my studio and unrolled an experimental piece of canvas which explored my sensory and primordial response to my residency in Greenland in 2008. I had arranged geographical shapes onto an outstretched canvas and poured a bucket of black bitumen onto it, allowing its fluidity to dictate the visual outcome. There were strong similarities between my responses in Shetland and Greenland, which share an ancient rock system. As Shetland is the halfway point geographically between Ireland and the Arctic, for me, it represents a liminal space between the physical and metaphysical – a concept evident in both artworks.

Using the approach of archaeology as surface-survey, I scanned the outstretched canvas, allowing my

hands to explore the rippling of the dried tar. I became phenomenologically invested in this site as I began to section areas which reflected my experience of Shetland. Each sample revealed a common trait: that of the exposure of substrate (ethereality) against the bedrock of substance (materiality). The metamorphosis of bitumen seemed to reveal the fluidity of the imagination like a subconscious doodling. This fluidity was heightened in samples containing contrasting bold shapes. These surfaces have the ability to capture flickering light, reminiscent of the dark deep waters of the North Sea, while the compositional shapes seem to echo Shetland’s dark coastline. The resulting Byronic artworks/ artefacts which were ‘catalogued’ i to vii and ‘archived’ within a frame. The Shetland series was chosen by Rita Popowicz (formerly of Christie’s Switzerland) to represent the theme ‘transformation’ at Artexpo New York 2022. They are currently available as Limited Edition Giclée prints.

Jackie Flanagan is a Visual Artist and Archaeologist from County Kerry who currently lives and works in Dublin. jackieflanaganartist.com