Sharon Dipity 2022

Sharon Dipity
Chance encounters / en-counter balancE
14 February to 2 April 2022

Drop into Studio 1 on Friday 1 April between 12.30 pm and 2.30pm to encounter some of the outcomes of Sharon Dipity’s investigation into chance versus choice during her residency at Uillinn. Sharon will be present in the studio to share some of the processes and findings of her experiments.

Sharon Dipity is a multi-disciplinary artist. Her practice is enveloped in the process, it is experimental and playful, embracing chance, none the less it is careful and mindful. For this residency she will focus on her drawing practice in relation to chance versus choice.

Serendipitous happenings are an important aspect of my artistic process. I want to look at new ways to invite the element of chance into my drawing practice. I want the freedom to play and fully explore the creative drawing process without boundaries. Conversely, I want to add certain constraints to my process in order to instigate new ways of working. I want to explore how the various constraints and chance techniques impact the vocabulary and aesthetic of my drawings and mark-making.

Sharon will devise and create a number of tools, methods and structures for working with chance in her drawing practice using pre-determined instructions. She will reference how other artists, past and present, have engaged with chance and their means of doing so (e.g., John Cage’s Chance Operations). Sharon will consider, whether to consistently follow the structure and directives of the chosen method or to be selective with the rules.  As part of her research into ‘chance’, Sharon recently attended an on-line course: ‘Rules of the Game: Introduction to task-based performance and art’ taught by Dr. Katja Hilevaara for the ECC Performance Art organisation. This course examined the practice of using task-led activities and chance as a means to conceive and compose performance.

Sharon says: I have no expectation of outcomes other than to follow the journey and enjoy the process.

Creativity needs a balance of order and chaos – Herbert Lui.

Visitors to the studio will be invited to engage and influence this process by writing and submitting ‘rules’ via ‘chance’ cards for Sharon to choose to respond to.

She will invite some of our ongoing groups to engage with this process in, or after one of their sessions; and also the staff at Uillinn.

There will be a sharing of Sharon’s work and learnings at the close of the residency.

Biography

Sharon Dipity is a multi-disciplinary visual artist. She holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Scenography from U.C.E, Birmingham and a B.A. Honours Degree in Textiles from Goldsmiths College, University of London.

Recent achievements are: JOURNEYS, commission for Blackrock Hall Primary Care Centre, Cork(2015); Leap of Faith solo show/residency at Working Artist Studios (2019); One rung on the laddder Solo show, Clonakilty Arts Centre (2018); Residencies include: Ballinglen Arts Foundation Residency (2018) + Tyrone Guthrie Centre (2010) with bursaries from Cork County Council; Teacher Artist Partnership Residency (2021 and 2020); Uillinn, West Cork Arts Centre (2016/17/18); Cill Rialaig, Co. Kerry (2011). She has been an artist practitioner with the Arts for Health Programme, West Cork since 2007.

WCAC acknowledges the financial support of the Arts Council and Cork County Council in making these residencies possible.