Alana day’s work!
A Cork-based scholar and artist has re-discovered her creative passion by producing life-story portraits of people over 75.
Three years ago, Dr E Alana James, having spent years lecturing to students at universities all over the world, found her artistic spark had been reignited through the lens of life experience.
While she found the journey into older age fascinating, it also forced her to ponder other questions about relationships that really matter, how our feelings determine the quality of our lives, and what power lies in belief.
“My art practice morphed along with the ideas I investigated. When I talked with people over 75 (the oldest was 103), I was able to collage an illustration of what they felt was most important in their lives,” explained Alana.
“I learned so much but, at the same time, was disappointed in how difficult it was to make the images feel as vibrant and alive as the people. That lead to my second investigation, one of how line, colour, texture, space, and shape work to evoke feelings.
“When I added those abstracts to the portraits they worked well, but I still felt I needed to experiment with sound and movement. All of these have been put together in suites, culminating in my early work in video, experimenting with how sound and movement augment the other elements to make the whole more memorable.”
This is all done using Alana’s iPad with a graphics App called Procreate while having ‘conversations’ on her multiple monitors with AI and together generating abstractions to capture feelings.
She said: “I enjoy pursuing the hard ideas, those that drill down to what is important in our lives – what matters. These are important ideas, so they are portrayed large, dominating entire walls or projected in such a way as to immerse the viewer in the importance of the message.”
Born in California, Alana moved with her family to Colorado where she spent most of her life until she fell in love with Ireland. She moved to Kinsale in 2006 with her wife, and is frequently seen about town walking her dog, Hugh Grant.
Alana obtained her bachelor’s degree with honours in fine arts from the University of Colorado in 1971. She exhibited her art throughout the 1980s before life moved in an academic direction and Alana obtained her Doctor of Educational Leadership from Colombia University in 2005.
Alana’s exhibition, ‘What Matters, An artistic exploration of the puzzles of life: Relationships, Feelings and What We Believe’ is showing in Kinsale at Gallery 23 on Chairman’s Lane, from 16-25 January. The gallery is open afternoons and by appointment.