MAstars

Emily Speed selects Evelyn Broderick from Liverpool John Moores University for MAstars

Standing in a fairly dark corner of the old Glass Factory space watching a performance during the first graduating exhibition from the MA Fine Art at LJMU, I became aware of a large wooden structure looming over me. Atop the structure sat a perfect, hand-turned wooden ball, perched right on the ledge and seeming as though it might be set in motion at any moment.

I loved this sense of possibility (or perhaps threat) in the work and found myself watching it for some time for any sign of movement. The ball did not budge; its potential remained intact. The wooden, death-slide-like structure was made of old pallets, with a curve at the end that hovered satisfyingly above the floor. Next to this, a long drawing on paper hung over the wall and floor, mirroring the shape of and competing in monumentality with the wall work. The lightness of the paper meant that the wall piece won on monumentality – my body felt well aware of the weight contained in that piece.

The paper was covered in a series of linear marks, which indicated a laboured process (I found out later it was a print, arrived at by drawing with a piece of wood as a rule, the image then made into a silkscreen and printed repeatedly onto this 10-metre-long roll of paper). 

Evelyn Broderick, Print_ Leanagí ar aghaidh, 2014. Paper, ink. 10m

The last piece in the trio was a series of pallets fixed together to create a kind of plinth or support. On one side was a drawing comprising the worn and ripped fragment of a sandpaper disc - more evidence of the process of making. The missing section of the disc had been drawn back in with hundreds of circular lines.

Evelyn Broderick, Drawing_ Leanagí ar aghaidh, 2014. Paper, pencil, sand-paper, pallets. 122 cm x 122cm

This work by Evelyn Broderick is part of a series entitled ‘Leanagí ar aghaidh’, which translates from the Irish to mean ‘continue with/ go on’. Continual enquiry, labour, effort and, I imagine, patience are all evident in the repetitive processes in these gentle but determined works. The real work for Broderick lies not in the object itself, but in the graft. I discovered that she has a great interest in the Men’s Shed Association, a communal space for working, where tools and skills can be shared. I can immediately understand her affinity with this endeavour. She emerges as a tinkerer - an inquisitive artist practising earnestly the necessary skills to create specific conditions and test-sites.

Selected by Emily Speed
Published September, 2014

View Evelyn Broderick's profile >
Evelyn Broderick wins MAstars Film Prize 2014 >

About Emily Speed

Emily Speed is an artist based at the Royal Standard in Liverpool and works in sculpture, performance, drawing, film and artists' books. Emily has recently completed the Standpoint Futures residency and recent exhibitions include Strange Business at Syson Gallery, Nottingham and Cities of Ash at g39, Cardiff. Emily will be the 2014/15 Derek Hill Foundation Scholar at the British School at Rome.

Further information

broderickevelyn.tumblr.com
emilyspeed.co.uk
ljmu.ac.uk/lsa