Jill Quigley

Artist Statement

My practice is led by the notion of experiencing architectural space as a site of mark-making, from the effects of humans on the construction process, to the effects of time on the materials of the decoration and objects, and all the traces that inhabitants leave on an interior. I look at the desire to inhabit by adding another layer of mark-making, something external or alien, that highlights my presence and contrasts with the material in situ, establishing a personal territory by leaving and documenting traces on an environment as evidence of presence.

I mainly use photography and installation as the means of documenting and interacting with the spaces that I work in. Sites that are unoccupied or unused are my preferred locations to work, as they are freed from everyday practicalities, separated from the usual objects and processes of their inhabitation, making it easier to dwell on concepts of space in the abstract. Using an interventionist approach, I subvert the assumed context of space being represented or read, aiming to cause disruption and spark new possibilities in thinking about the immediate environment and its representation.

Bio

Jill Quigley is a visual artist from Donegal. In 2014 she completed an MFA in Photography at the Ulster University, having previously studied Art History at Trinity College Dublin. Recently she has participated in group exhibitions in the UK, Ireland, France and the USA. She has held solo exhibitions at Belfast Exposed, Seen Fifteen in London and the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny. Her work has won the Jill Todd Award and the ESPY Student Prize and has been nominated for the Magnum Graduate Photographers Award, the Prix Pictet and the Unseen Dummy Book Award.