The exhibition ADRIFT, by internationally acclaimed artist and SETU lecturer, Dr Els Dietvorst, has been celebrated as one of The Irish Times’ top ten exhibitions of 2024. Known for her socially engaged practice, Dr explores themes of resilience, migration, and our connection to the natural world through her thought-provoking body of work.
“The title ‘ADRIFT’ is a metaphor for how I see our contemporary world as being not anchored, floating freely without a sense of purpose or direction.”
Dr Els Dietvorst SETU Lecturer
Unique vision
Originally from Belgium, Dr Dietvorst has lived and worked in Wexford for over a decade, where her experiences in Ireland have deeply impacted and influenced her art. Combining film, sculpture, drawing, large scale murals, and performance, this exhibition features pilgrim-like figures in sculpture, while films and drawings tackle issues like migration, homelessness, craft, and survival. This puts forward a narrative of shared experience across the globe, and across time.
“Driven by the search of how we can connect again with our natural intuition and instincts, my work explores the relationships between humans and the natural world, including our current structures and systems, such as the shape of our institutions or the food supply chain. I put an emphasis on looking at things that others take for granted, the importance of the peripheries, my repurposing of waste, along with my reflections on life and death and my interest in working with people allows me work to find resonance with audiences from all walks of life”
Dr Els Dietvorst SETU Lecturer
Maintaining momentum
In 2021, Dr Dietvorst won the prestigious Belgian Art Prize and hosted two exhibitions in Brussels which led to a national tour across Ireland, curated by Catherine Bowe and Karla Sánchez Zepeda, and commissioned by the Wexford Arts Centre with support from the Arts Council of Ireland and Flanders State of the Arts. ADRIFT toured significant venues across Ireland, including Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, Uillinn, West Cork Arts Centre and most recently Wexford Arts Centre, concluding December 13, 2024.
For more information visit: https://elsdietvorst.be/