Published in 2022 by
Faculty of Art, Music and Design, University of Bergen, Norway
ISBN 978-82-93801-07-8
https://kmd.uib.no
www.eamonokane.com
Edited by Eamon O’Kane and Anja Musiat
Design by Eamon O’Kane and Anja Musiat
Printed and bound by Balto Print
1000 copies
The book is typeset in Adelle Sans
The paper is 150g G-Print Artic Matt
All works by Eamon O’Kane © the artist
Introduction
In putting together this publication I have endeavoured to delve deep into my artworks as living objects and to explore connections between the various mediums I have worked with over the years and how they bear the traces of my life.
In the first text, “Eamon O’Kane’s Oneiric Architecture,” Dr Margaret Iversen analyses my architectural painting practice since 2003 by referring to several themes in my artwork and putting the paintings in context with my installations and drawings. She points to my childhood experience of growing up in Ireland as the origin of all my artistic themes and uses Gaston Bachelard’s concept of ‘oneiric architecture’ to frame the origins of my art practice. ‘Oneiric’ relates to dreams or dreaming and her text has inspired the title of this publication.
In the second text, “Return of the Trees,” Dr Mikkel Bogh examines my painting practice and specifically references the interplay of shadows of trees on the architecture and the impact of the painterly qualities of the artworks on the viewer.
In the third text, “The Garden of Children,” Norman Brosterman investigates the relationship of my interactive installations to the legacy of Friedrich Fröbel. He highlights how my work is innately derived from my experience of nature and that this provides many intuitive entry points for the viewer.
In the fourth text, “Play Our Way Forward,” Ellen Mara De Wachter continues the focus on my relational artwork, especially my recent installation Maria Montessori: Glass Classroom. She highlights how these interactive installations ‘reacquaint practices of education and creativity in different environments’ and how I use open free play as a tool to liberate the participants in the process of engaging with the artwork.
To conclude, in the final text I reflect on several strands within my art practice to reflect on my most current artwork and how my art practice relates to my upbringing in Ireland as well as themes connected to seasonality, history and architecture.
Eamon O’Kane, Bergen, December 2022