A Homecoming for Sarah Dwyer: ‘Penti menti’ at Uillinn
Penti Menti, Sarah Dwyer’s new exhibition at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Center, is a homecoming of sorts. Dwyer grew up in Cork, but moved to the UK wiht her family when she was 14, and is now based in London.
“My father was a builder,” she says. “After the crash of 1989,he went to England to get work. He commuted for a year or so, and than we all moved over. When my parents retired,they moved back to Inniscarra. My father’s passed on now, but my mother still lives there, so I come back often.”
Curated by eamon Maxwell,the former director of Lismore Castle Arts,’Penti Menti’ at the Skibbereen venue is Dwyer’s first solo institutional exhibition in Ireland,though it comes after numerous solo and group shows in London,New york and Europe. The title is a play on ‘pentimento’, a term derived from Italian, and used by painters to describe a change of mind in relation to thier work.
Dwyer had several changes of mind before settling on art as her career. “I was quite academically inclined as a 17/18-year-old,” she says.
“And when I finished school, I went on to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics at oxford. I would have loved to study Fine Art, but it was a case of keeping my parents happy.I think in retrospect it was a good thing; after Oxford, I got a scholarship to study Economics in Chicago.
“I moved to San Francisco after that, to work for the AIDS Foundation, writing and editing their newsletter. That led to more editorial work in Paris, where I lived for a few years. I was lucky; I had a salary, and I could afford to visit all the major museums in the US and Europe. Even when I lived in paris, I could get a flight to New york for the equivalent of £100. when other people were out nightclubbing for the weekend, I was flying to new York and touring the museums. And then, through my work, I got to travel to the middle East and Africa, places that an artist wouldn’t often get to visit.”
Dwyer studied life drawing and art history along the way, and at 29, she moved back to the UK and began studying for a Master’s in Fine art at staffordshire university. She went on to complete a second Master’s, in Painting, at Royal College of Art, London in 2004.
“I wanted to learn in a more formal,conventional environment,and the Royal College was amazing,” she says. “There were only 20 students in Painting, and we had access to great teaching and facilities.”
It was around the time the Young Brit Artists – Damien Hirst et al – were making a splash. “I had Tracey Emin and a couple more of those YBAs teach me,” she says.
“I don’t think they really influenced my work, but I did learn that there is a commercial aspect to artmaking, and how vital it is to get your work out there. I was lucky to be one of the next generation of artists, post-YBA.Charles Saatchi bought my work, and I sold to some very big collections in the US. But it’s all cyclical, you know. You have to keep moving, and keep changing, to stay relevant.”
Ceramicist Sarah Dwyer Embraces Risk and Collaboration in New Work
Ceramic artist Sarah Dwyer is known for her experimental approach to sculpture, readily embracing the possibility of breakage and utilizing refiring as an integral part of her creative process.”I have a kamikaze approach to ceramics; if a sculpture breaks, I’ll refire it. Some of the sculptures will have been reglazed or refired four times. And if they explode and go to God, I’m not bothered,” she stated in a recent interview.
Dwyer has maintained a studio in West London for the past five years, but recently received notice to relocate. She is now transitioning to a 2,000 square foot space in a former Victorian workhouse, a move she is embracing despite some logistical challenges. The studio is located on the third floor, accessible only by a spiral staircase. As part of the agreement for the space, Dwyer will also curate and maintain the archive of the previous tenant, an 85-year-old artist, allowing him continued access to the studio as needed.
The new studio’s location offers an unexpected connection to Dwyer’s personal history. The adjacent space is occupied by a Southall boxing club, whose trainer also leads the Afghan national boxing team. Dwyer finds this notably resonant, as her father was a boxer and she grew up immersed in that world. “I feel like somebody’s looking down, and they’ve manifested this for me,” she remarked.
For two decades, Dwyer has fostered a collaborative environment by inviting Master of Arts (MA) students from London art programs to work as studio assistants. She intends to continue this practice in her new space, currently working with ten assistants. This “atelier system” provides students with hands-on experience in painting and sculpture,alongside practical guidance on the business aspects of art,including studio management,and navigating relationships with curators and galleries.
These assistants played a key role in preparing Dwyer’s latest exhibition, Penti Menti, which opened on Friday in Skibbereen, Ireland at the Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre. Six of her assistants traveled from London via ryanair and bus to attend the opening. The exhibition will then tour to the Highlanes Gallery in Drogheda and the Limerick City Gallery of Art.
Dwyer is also working on a monograph, scheduled for publication in the spring by Hatje Cantz, and hopes to extend the exhibition’s tour to public spaces in the UK and potentially the united States, where her husband is from chicago and she maintains strong ties.