What if we believe we are »alien«? That our existence on this planet is an accident – the result of a cosmic event during which our ancestral cells landed here 4.2 billion years ago. We are not indigenous to the earth – We are outsiders.
I borrow this notion from astrobiologist Chandra Wickramasinghe and apply it here to this work, Deep Time Feeling that draws on the notion of deep time – the timescale of geological events that sit outside of our human capacity to comprehend. Taking the bog landscape in the midlands of Ireland as my site of interest, the work refers to the degraded peatlands as a result of industrial extraction. Extraction has always been associated with colonial enterprise – another form of outsider. By Chandra’s margin we are, all of us, colonisers of the earth.
about the artist
Catriona Leahy is an Irish Artist whose work explores deep time environmental histories. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally. Her work is held in many public and private collections. She is funded by Arts Council Ireland.
