Dust has been commissioned by Roscommon Arts Centre, as an exploration into 20 years of ongoing studio process.

Ann Henderson’s practice focuses upon the evidence of the passage of time and as such the processes of growth and decay are central. Appropriating Merlin Sheldrake’s description of mycelium, the practice “is better thought of not as a thing, but as a process – an exploratory, irregular tendency.”

Within this Ann makes no deliberate differentiation between the artist’s manifest response and the artefacts of these natural processes. Material and artist are equally active, equally bound by impermanence. All of this escapes the studio, seeps into the domestic and returns metamorphosed, time and time again. For the duration of the exhibition and beyond the ongoing will be ongoing.

These “Ongoings” will involve a series of virtual studio visits from Rathlin Island and a short residency onsite at Roscommon Arts Centre, where Ann will invite interested participants to explore and respond to some of the process’ and artefacts found in this exhibition. This engagement will include Seen Unseen participants and artist Clare McLaughlin.

Ann has been practising as an artist for over 30 years. She places importance in investing locally, as well as further afield, and has been living and basing her practice on Rathlin Island, off the north coast of Ireland, since 1998.

Ann is committed to ongoing investigation into our relationship with nature and is convinced that this most fundamental of interconnects is inseparable from the human spiritual component.

She believes there is essential value, not only in solitary endeavour as an artist but also in working and collaborating with others.

11^th November 2022 – 14^th January 2023

Click here to read – Recordings by Jennie Taylor. A text in response to DUST by Ann Henderson