Fiona Kelly: CONVOLUTION

January - August 2023

Etymological:

CON = together

VOLVERE = to turn, twist, roll, revolve , move around

Mathematical (in particular, functional analysis):

the operation on two functions (f and g) that produces a third function (f*g) that expresses how the shape of one is modified by the other.

Poetical:

Ɇ-volution →→ CONvolution

How can we as a society move on TOGETHER and engage with the OTHER(ness) around us, transforming and evolving in TOGETHER, rather than just as individuals or as a single group?

With »Convolution«, Fiona Kelly wants to focus on the traces of those voices that we often do not hear or perceive.

Do we change ourselves by consciously perceiving a convolute of things? How do we communicate with them? How do we connect to them and the world?

Connecting is the core of this work. This is symbolized by the line, the movement from one point to another, the path in between. It shows us the trail of an existence: something or someone was here and left something behind. Maybe a (script) character with a meaning.

When different lines are connected to each other, a kind of network is created, a weave.

At every crossroads, different lines come together, new perspectives open up, new stories appear.

Window 1:

»a line allein ist nie allein a line« opens up these concepts and with time this line can point in different directions and thus connect the passer-by with his/her (non-)direct environment in a variety of ways.

Window 2:

The blind »seAe spider« brings many lines together, weaving her web incessantly. As a fantastic hybrid character her web symbolizes the entire water network on this earth. She looks after it as well as its purpose to connect land with land, lives with lives. Since she is blind, she perceives the world differently and has developed other forms of communication. In her net she captures those mostly unnoticed (also the more-than-human) voices, enabling us to perceive them.

Entry:

The »(SeAe-)Water story net with 8 x ∞ voices« symbolizes 8 perspectives of 8 mythological female characters who have an unusual connection to the sea or water and who are often forgotten.

Since 2017, Fiona Kelly has been accompanying many women and girls in her projects in order to keep creating ∞ - many (infinitely many) new, up-to-date versions of these stories and giving them new meanings. Each of the 8 women is represented by a specific natural fiber rope and a special knotting technique within the net.

All elements of this exhibition follow the line of this symbolism and continue to tell and retell their own stories in their very own way.

The crossings are encounters in the form of a convolution.

Do you find yourself again?

After a journey through the many connections?