About the Artist

Vivienne Byrne is Louth based visual artist who works mainly with drawing and video installation. Having finally secured a studio space along with her colleagues from the Borrowed Ground Collective, she how works from her studio at 8Fold Artist Studios, Drogheda.

Since graduating from IADT Dun Laoghaire in 2009 with a BA in Visual Arts Practice, she has been the recipient various awards from the Arts Council Ireland, Louth Local Authority, CREATE and Creative Ireland. Most recently her work has been shown as part of the Annual Exhibition at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Royal Ulster Academy, at CIACLA & IndieCork Filmfest. 2022 saw her awarded an Artist Residency at Creative Spark, Dundalk and an Agility Award from the Arts Council Ireland. In 2021 she was awarded the Platform 31 Artist Bursary for Louth and received a Tyrone Guthrie Residency from Louth County Council. Alongside five colleagues from the Borrowed Ground Collective, she established 8Fold Artist Studios in Drogheda in association with Droichead Arts Centre in 2022. Committed to grassroots community creative practice she has been collaborating on a wide range of arts projects and delivering art workshops for the past 25 years.

For more information: Curriculum Vitae

About the Work

The notion of time is central to my work.

The exploration of visual rhythms as a method of conversing with myself and the otherworld, however that space or time might come to be defined, is what drives my practice. Growing up in the shadow of loss has shaped the context of my work, so invisible forces at work in the physical environment act as departure points for metaphysical understanding.

I use video, photography and drawing to merge traces of past existences and present circumstances that create artworks or installations that express the temporal and/or transient nature of existence.

My practice incorporates activities that simultaneously travel at different speeds and in different directions. Whilst my drawing practice often takes its own slow meticulous time, the video editing offers dynamic visual possibilities in accordance with the sounds and imagery they accompany. Sound and vision are in constant dialogue. I enjoy fusing these two tempos within a project to discover new energies within the work, in turn expanding possibilities. The work is always in conversation with itself, tapping into considerations around context, pattern and evolution, consistently in the process of unfolding and revealing.

Whilst much of my work is shaped by personal experience, a large proportion of my time is spent working in collaboration with individuals and organisations to realise projects that tell a much wider story. I am drawn to these projects as they ground me in a sense of place that acknowledge other histories and stories. I hold in high regard the intrinsic and often immeasurable value exploration of creative practices bring to individuals and communities.