Sarah O'Sullivan

Arts Facilitator and Community Development. Arts and Health. Commissions and Design Consultancy B.DES HONS Textile Design NCAD Contact : [email protected] Studio Hendrons Collinder Building

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Donate to mnd 50300 #parkinsonsassociationireland #als #motorneurondiease #piesforparkinsons

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Programming for young people

In programming for young people, immediacy is a challenge I come across frequently: What’s the Hit? What will they take away from a session that will bring them back for the next? How do we balance an immediate satiation with longer-term engagement, enquiry and create hunger for more? What’s the interest for the right here, right now?

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#tbt to #seennotheard at #thelibraryproject #templebar #tallaght #youtharts #textiles #drawing

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Went to see #Ncad degree show super #impressive as always #seencad #graduates2014

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WORKSHOPS

  Over the course of the ten weeks the students focused on ideas of personal and social identities, pop culture, home life, and favorite objects. Through interviews and workshops with the children we explored ideas of clothing, gender,femininities, clothing-fashion codes and the intergenerational gap of interpretation of young girls and boys. We wanted to consider the symbolic meaning of brands, the links that children form between individuals and their clothing, music,toys, social media and any connections with the children’s view of themselves and their future.

  In week two the students were shown the work of artist Dawn Clements. Clements is known for her large scale drawings which depict long journeys on trains or scenes from movies. We wanted to introduce scale and group work early on. The students brought in personal objects to work from,many opted to bring in photographs, and others brought introphies or rosettes. Some brought in dolls and knick knacks.Each student explained what they brought and why and each object, although to the viewer it may appear as just an object, to the child this drawing had a heavily weighted personal and symbolic meaning.

  In week eight the students were given hands which were constructed using expanding foam making them lightweigh and cartoon-like in shape. The students were asked to personalize these. We discussed social and personal identities and the students identified many things which made up who they are and how they want to be perceived. whether it was there family, there cultural background, their physical traits or the things they loved.

 The project allowed for engaging and unpredictable outcomes, allowing the students to question and respond to these ideas. It questioned issues of identity and the presentation of one’s self as well as challenging structures, boundaries and stereotypes.

      The complexities of youth vary between genders but technology takes up a large proportion of their time and concern. Many of the children have their own, as well as access to, YouTube channels and even idolize “YouTubers”.

  They also have a strong connection with pop culture, which forms their main identity. When asked to personalise their work many of the students often opted to personalise it with common media branding, which we have found to be a heavy influence for them.

      However, when asked to create images in other drawing based workshops on ideas for example “What would it look

  like if you could eat your own face?”, (based on artist Dana Schultz’s the face eater) they came up with imaginative,exciting and original possibilities. This shows that their identity is at the forefront of the material world but their imaginative response remains honest, original and true to self.

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SARAH O’SULLIVAN

    Ideas of material identity were a heavy influence for

  O’Sullivan’s works. ‘I Luv You 24/7’ is constructed from hand

  sewn teddy bears or inside outs which are a signature to her

  work. The teddy bear is adorned with 605 love heart sweets

  varying in shades of pinks and peaches and pale greens. The

  sweets read messages such as ‘I Surrender’, ‘Forever Yours,’ ‘I

  Love Harry’ and ‘Love me’.

      The piece borders on obsessive and portrays this irrational

  need to give and receive love, it demands your attention.

  Strewn on the floor below are the broken and empty

  carcasses of teddy bears that have been sucked of life and

  drained of color, they are the ones left behind.  The piece ‘For him…’

  is inspired by a media identity. Another handmade

  inside out is seen covered in words clipped from pre teen

  magazines. ‘For him...’ explores what pre teens are exposed to

  in magazines. The piece, named ‘For Him…’ as many of

  the magazines are targeted towards dating, male friendships

  and idolizing male pop stars.

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    In week four the workshop was based around creative

  problem solving using recycled house hold materials.

  The children were given tasks, which allowed them to construct innovative ways to, for example ‘ disguise their vegetables at the dinner table’ or ‘ invent a survival kit.’

  The children were also asked to experiment and given tasks to record in their visual diaries. One task being to record what they had for dinner, who with and the colour of their plate. This task amongst other observations was an inspiration for O’Sullivans work titled ‘Kentucky Fried

  Children.’ Another inside out which was hand sewn and

  printed with the children’s names inserted in various

  media branding and hand a embroidered picnic blanket.

  ‘Ask Fm’ was a piece made by O’Sullivan in response to

  interviews with pre teen girls on the infamous Ask Fm social

  networking website and an interview conducted between

  O’Sullivan and controversial photographer Richard Kern. The

  Ask Fm website has received negative media attention for

  their lack of assertiveness with regards to online bullying. 

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#Catalogues ready to go , for our #opening of #seennotheard this Thursday #libraryproject #templebar

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‘Seen, Not Heard!’ a ten-week collaborative project with Ms. Kavanagh’s 6th class students at St Martin De Porres and Textile Artists Sarah O'Sullivan and Orlagh O'Neill. 

  O'Sullivan and O'Neill wanted to create a discourse with the children in order to explore the complexities of youth in a visual way. The work pushes the boundaries of textile art and remains honest, playful,humorous and at times shocking, questioning and interrogating the way in which children are growing up in Dublin, this exhibition sheds light on many issues from the perspective of a child and  'for those working with children and the primary education sector this exhibition is surely not to be missed !!' Both Artists graduated from NCAD with first class honors and this will be there first joint show in 2014. 

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The king has arrived at the #libraryproject #seennotheard #kids #kfc #burgerking #teddybear

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‘I Am Only Eleven Years Old’

‘I Am Only Eleven Years Old’

  Over the course of the 10 weeks the students focused on ideas of personal and social identities, pop culture, home life, and favourite objects.

Through Interviews and workshops with children we explored ideas of clothing and gender, femininities, clothing-fashion codes and the intergenerational gap of interpretation of young girls and boys.  We wanted to consider the symbolic meaning of brands, the links that children form between individuals and their clothing, music, toys, social media and any connections with the children’s view of themselves and their future.

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#thingsaregettingoutofhand #expandingfoam #seennotheard #youtharts #tallaght #youthartsireland #tlp #workinprogress

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TREMOR BEARS 

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designing some of these quirky guys made for a burrito place in Dublin. work in progress.

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In the school on Friday the students will be drawing what they had for dinner the night before and what it looked like from memory , then they will have to do an imaginative drawing of what it looks like in their stomach now inspired by the work of Dana Schultz and Eddie Martinez, here is my example i had prawns peas and an egg for dinner last night and now here it is in my stomach .

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We asked the kids to tell us their fears and worries #chickennuggets #swans

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Research wall for work in progress