Among Things is an exhibition of a selection of artworks as the culmination of a collaborative project between two artists, Karl Burke and Padraig Cunningham, and the creative group I Am Here. I Am Here is a creative and vibrant ensemble based in Boyle town supported by their parents & friends along with the staff & volunteers of the Brothers of Charity.

Commissioned by curator Linda Shevlin and Roscommon County Council Arts Office, this project involved numerous and varied workshops with the group covering sound & music, sculpture & clay moulding, painting, storyboarding for film along with camera and filming techniques.

The workshops brought the group together to produce physical outputs within a conceptual framework, resulting in the production of a new body of artworks spearheaded by the leading artists. During this process a number of concerns became apparent namely individuality and finding one’s place in the world. The work recognises our innate desire to be visible to others and at times the need to be invisible, to hide away in ones own world. All of these personal clues to the outside world paint a picture to others about ourselves, who we are. Some pictures are abstract purposefully obscure, others are just put aside out of sight and out of mind. These social constructs are boundaries created to keep things separated, static. This exhibition incorporates a range of media including video and sound, clay masks, painted surface and a new sculptural work. Motifs of the hand and masks are evident in the exhibition and serve as a symbolic means gesturing towards the theme of the individual. We all wear masks from time to time. A border of representation meeting and in between the world around of us, the clothes we decide to wear, the music and culture we align ourselves to. The hand is tactile, a means of extension, a way of knowing and discovery in respect to our environment welcoming a friend or the reverse, moving away.