Intrusions - 2022
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A sequence of three large-scale Jacquard tapestries conjure a sense of theatrical disorientation. Translated to Jacquard from loose digital collage, the imagery depicts scenes of architectural ruination: excavated landscapes converge with remnants of damaged cityscapes to form vertiginous scenes, populated by a cast of extinct or endangered animals. The title of the series is a reference to the 1955 publication ‘Intrusions?’ by J.W. Dunne. His final book, ‘Intrusions?’ elaborates on Dunne’s long-standing theory of time – a system he called ‘serialism’. Extrapolating from the experience of pre-cognitive dreams, Dunne concludes that past, present and future are in fact continuous parallel timelines, which may be perceived and accessed simultaneously in hypnagogic states. As in Ní Bhriain’s 2022 film, ‘An Experiment with Time’, which references a 1927 publication by J.W. Dunne, this allusion to ‘serialism’ emerges as an exploration of our current relationship to our past and our future – a relationship so profoundly unsettled and called into question by the threat of climate disaster. What results is an enigmatic visual vocabulary that connects to the sense of uncertainty, contradiction and loss experienced in this time of crisis.

Installation, CCA Glasgow - Floor: Three blocks of raw quarried limestone interrupt the space; each block is punctuated by a series of cast bronze snail shells, positioned inside crevices on the rock's surface. A single electron valve is suspended from invisible thread to hang 4 inches above each block; it appears to the eye to levitate over the centre of the rock.