Maeve Brennan lives and works in London and Beirut, she focuses on documenting sites and materials that show historical, geological or political importance and aims to produce alternate accounts. Brennan carries out these investigations due to her fascinations in the mechanics of the world around us; viewing and displaying somewhat stagnant matters such as geology and architecture and rebrands them into living, breathing surroundings which need love and maintenance.

Brennan’s film; “Jerusalem Pink” (2015) focuses on the geology and ruins in Jerusalem and how the effects and ageing of both of these coincide with her roots. Jerusalem being a mecca fo religion, hope and conflict, and the home to her grandfather it’s a place of huge prominence in many people’s lives. Brennan enjoys simplifying and slows things down by focusing on geology and appreciating rock layers and noting the small yet still present growth of earth and ground we stand on. Simultaneously and contrastingly she also focuses on the fall and destruction of temples in the same area. These two subject matters almost imitates and coincides with the life and death of herself and her grandad. She uses video as a way to record materials and how everything is connected and can be joined together, “it all starts with something tangible, within an object there is always history”

Telling a story and portraying change using a concept otherwise thought of as unconnected is such an interesting idea, i love how she shows how life always prevails despite any circumstances. the effects of time on us, move so quickly but here we can slow things down and appreciate our ancestors and the sheer, daunting age of the world.

https://www.jerwoodfvuawards.com/artists/maeve-brennan