Tara McGinn

Q&A with Tara

Who are you as an artist? 

I am a visual artist and writer who focuses on exploring the overlap between literal and visual meaning in images and texts; I develop objects, performances and installations based on structures of storytelling to convey the complex relationships between people and the places they inhabit/spend time in/with. 

Tell us a bit about the piece that you have made or this exhibition. 

The work I have made is an audio piece that weaves together collected ambient sounds of the museum itself as well as it's visitors and those whom work there. The piece is an attempt to create an interpretive snapshot of the life of this living museum today, as if it were an aural documentary of the bridge between our shared history and our contemporary life.  

What was the motivation behind the piece? 

I've always been interested in how museums operate and their fundamental goal in preserving history for the sake of being witnessed in the future. In particular the ways and means the lives of our ancestors are communicated through a combination of stories and facts, creating something semi-fictional to inform us of the past. 

Why do you think heritage skills are important?

As both a professional artist and a hobby crafter myself I have deep respect for those whom keep alive heritage or historic craft skills and the beauty of the handmade. 

Has the Ulster Folk Museum inspired you in any way?

Yes the museum is a very unique space to have the opportunity to produce work in, it's relativity to my research and work was perfect to develop my practice and create a work that involved so many aspects of what I'm already interested in.

Biography

Tara McGinn pursues an interdisciplinary practice combining sculptural (re)production, image-based assemblage and reflective writing; developing studio processes and research that connect subjects of trauma, memory, identity, and space. Responding intuitively to media and embracing the malleability of forms, she interrogates the language of practical and digital materials, exploiting storytelling as a layering device. This approach transforms the visual language and meaning of the forms she examines, making them sites for cultural practices and political narratives to interact as playful fictions.

Tara McGinn is an interdisciplinary artist from Enniscorthy, Ireland currently based in Belfast. Her recent solo show at PS2 ‘An Intimate Public’ curated by Cecelia Graham and Grace Jackson combined sculptural (re)productions, image-based assemblage and reflective writing that connected research surrounding trauma, memory and identity. 

Tara was most recently co-director of Catalyst Arts as well as recipient if The Freelands Foundation Artists’ Programme. Selected group exhibitions include ‘Woman in the Machine’ at VISUAL Carlow (2021), ‘Mex Index’ screening Displacements (2020).