This piece consists of a big egg timer which is captioned "Ireland's Refugee Applications Since 2012" on top and "Applications Accepted.....yeah....." on the bottom.  There has always been an element of sarcasm and satire in my work.  This is why ".... yeah..." was used, as if to say, yeah this is disappointing.  There are 100 dots on top and 3 on the bottom.  Each dot represents a per cent as according to the article I mentioned earlier, Ireland has taken in around 3% of it's refugee applications since 2012.

Out of 22194 applications in 5 years, Ireland has taken in 677 (around 3%), we've rejected 21% and left the rest in Limbo.

Consider a place like Malta which has taken in 3185 people since 2012.  That's nearly 5 times more refugees than Ireland in the same time frame.  Yet Malta has a population less than one tenth of Ireland, a GDP (Gross Domestic Product) 20 times smaller than ours and a landmass 222 times smaller than Ireland's.

Link to that here.

http://www.mylifeelsewhere.com/country-size-comparison/malta/ireland

When we compare these two countries, it is clear Ireland isn't doing enough at the moment.

On top of the print it says 128/183 meaning Ireland is the 128th most helpful country on this issue in the world.

On the bottom it says EU 21/30 meaning we are 21st most helpful country in the European Union on the Refugee Crisis in the world.

This wood block basically illustrated the statistics in this UNHCR Report.

This is the final print from this semester that I did.  It's 180cmx1m and it's based on a study outlining Ireland's contribution towards the Syrian Refugee Crisis. 

If you would like to read that study, here's a link to it.

http://www.thejournal.ie/ireland-asylum-refugee-status-compared-to-rest-of-world-2310580-Sep2015/

Above is the link I used for this print but here're a few more on the subject.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/irish-response-to-migrant-crisis-is-shameful-420002.html

http://www.thejournal.ie/ireland-refugee-asylum-seeker-numbers-2016-3077058-Nov2016/





I modelled the lock and key from the prison print from the locks and keys used in Folsom Prison in America.

I developed this dark theme even further by making a large scale print dealing with The Refugee Crisis.

This is 180cmx1m and it took over 4 weeks to complete.

I wanted to create a work which reflected the hardship refugees go through just to survive.

The figure is locked in a prison cell which is rapidly filling up with water through cracks in the walls.

The figure is anonymous and his hands are shackled while he desperately reaches for the key to free himself from drowning.  However the key is just out of reach and time is running out.

On the shackles it says "displacement" and "violence" as these are two things refugees cannot escape from.  The lock has the word "Ignorance" on it to show that one of the main reasons he's locked in the cell is because powerful people like Donald Trump are ignorant and refuse to lend a helping hand.

Finally, the key has the word "Compassion" on it as I believe we could alleviate much of the hardship that these helpless people experience by helping refugees to build better lives for themselves elsewhere.  However there is a reason the figure cannot reach the key.  Many countries, including Ireland aren't doing enough.

Here're a few pictures of the block in progress.

 

I modelled the hand in the print off my own.  I wanted to portray that look of desperation through a simple hand gesture.





For my final semester of 4th year I'm making work which deals with the Syrian Refugee Crisis and global warming.  I picked these two topics to follow up on studying Donald Trump from last semester.  He has made it perfectly clear how he stands on both these issues.  I work on these topics because I feel they are important as both cause terrible human suffering around the world. 

If you would like to read about Trump's stance on refugees and global warming, here are a few articles outlining his opinions and the various steps he has taken while in office to enforce his warped and dangerous ideas.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/donald-trump-tom-crowther-climate-change-speed-up-destroy-jobs-global-warming-a7656996.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/donald-trump-100-days-president-climate-change-global-warming-nature-catastrophic-dangerous-weird-a7701906.html

Above are his stance on global warming.

Below are his stance on refugees.

https://news.vice.com/story/trumps-ban-on-refugees-in-the-u-s-will-have-global-consequences

http://www.21global.ucsb.edu/global-e/february-2017/islam-social-justice-and-global-refugee-crisis



When I first started thinking about this topic, I likened Trump's lack of compassion and warped mind set to that of "The Joker" from Batman.  This is an A3 size woodblock print and the idea was to portray Trump's evil, black and white look on such a serious issue.  I captioned the corner "Make America Great Again", referencing Trump's presidential campaign.  "Why So Syrias?" mentions Syria while simultaneously referencing the joker's famous catch phrase from Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" "Why So Serious?".  The Joker uses this phrase multiple times in the movie after he's completely lost his mind.  He's pure evil and totally void of empathy and compassion.  To him, life is a big joke and he embraces chaos in the world.  While this is a fictional character, I would argue that this isn't far off of the real threat of one of the most powerful people on the planet who can cause horrendous human suffering by simply signing a sheet of paper.

These are the large scale woodcuts in progress.  The images were drawn free hand from memory.  There was no tracing involved.  This is the first panel of the left of the large boat print.  It's 180cm x 1m.

This is the second half of the boat carved and drawn up.

Here it's fully carved and ready to print.

Each block too around 3 weeks to complete from scratch.  So this large boat print took around 6 weeks.

This whole print is 1mx360cm.  This picture doesn't do justice to the size so here's a few more!



The idea behind this piece was portray in simple terms the damaging effects of man-made global warming.  We burn fossil fuels for temporary benefit while damaging our planet simultaneously.  The earth can't sustain this forever.  If we don't change to renewable energy soon we could alter our planet in catastrophic irreversible ways.

To me this is the equivalent of enjoying a bonfire on a boat while using the wood the boat is made from to fuel the fire.  Eventually the boat will sink and we will only have ourselves to blame.

I called this piece "Waves of Self-Destruction".

Here're a few interviews from Sam Harris and Naom Chomsky on their opinions of Donald Trump.  Much of the information I used in my project comes from the arguments of these two great writers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKLakp_rpbY Sam Harris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yBGE80covk Sam Harris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB54XxbgI0E Naom Chomsky on Upfront

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hw_0Ufxpzs Naom Chomsky speech about what to do during the Trump Presidency

ASDF movie drawings were useful for attempting to capture emotion in a humorous yet simplistic way.  The caricatures of Donald Trump were quite fun to do when I was doing this research!

When I was looking for humorous facial expressions, I looked to ONEY cartoons on youtube.  I find them hilarious!  They came in handy when I was learning how to do caricatures.  Here're a few of my favourites!

David Shrigley's work came in handy for my small caricatures of Donald Trump.  His naive, childish way of illustrating was an inspiring and fun way for me to draw other people.  I looked at him last year too but he's always been an interesting artist to me.

I looked at Jean Juillien last year for the purpose of looking at how I can start commenting on how society seems to function.  I do this for politics.  He does this for everyday life.  I enjoy how upfront and honest his images are.  We can all relate to them. They're satirical which is why I looked at his work this year.  He gave me some insight into how I can incorporate a sense of humour into my work.

I looked to Laurence hyde for ideas of using line to express the emotion in my characters faces like the sadness in the refugee print, the psychopathic screaming of trump coming out of the trumpet and the sly look in the large trump cat as he sprayed stuff all over the word democracy.  I'd like to create a woodcut novel in time but for now I'll stay with large scale.  I admire how Hyde captures the waves, nuclear explosions and the emotions of his characters.  Here's some prints from his woodcut novel "Southern Cross" which is about the impact of nuclear bomb testing on the residents of the polinesian islands during the cold war.

When I was making my woodcuts, I looked to Max Ernst for ideas on detail.  His woodcuts are beyond impressive!  I love the detail he manages to bring to his images.  I enjoy how graphic and awe inspiring they are from a distance, yet upon closer examination it's just many lines carved together.  Max pushed me to bring more detail to my woodcuts as well as give me ideas on the folds in peoples clothes and light and shadows.  He has a great book in the library called "Une SemaineDe Bonte".  He incorporates animals for symbolic effect, which I also like to do.

One of the most influential artists on my practice so far is Banksy.  I love the work he does.  His spraypaintings all have such a clear message about similar topics that I work with like capitalism, politics, war, corruption, the military etc.  He sees what is wrong with the world and uses art to educate people in a fun and visual way.  His satire in my opinion is spectacular and it always makes me laugh and look at the world differently.  I also enjoy the fact that nobody really knows who he is.  He's British but that's all we have!  It's like he doesn't want recognition for all the good he does for people.  It's admirable.  If I was to talk to him, I can imagine him being humble, yet having an opinion on everything and joking about it!