Reliquary (noun): A container for holy relics
Oubliette (noun): A dungeon with an opening only at the top

Reliquary, as Oubliette is a body of work which explores the materialisation of mortality and pain through sculptural offerings and ensorcelled amulets. These corporeal objects parallel ancient votives and sorceries to manifest wellness but also act as a memento mori: a reminder that inevitably the flesh will die.

Simulacrums, representations and abstractions of the artist’s body exist in a state of contradiction. As a prayer for wellness in spite of the inescapable nature of death, as a record of the artist’s existence and lived experience despite the rise of groups which would seek to erase it, as artefacts viewed in reverence bound to be forgotten. As reliquary, as oubliette.

This body of work also reflects on the ephemeral, but enduring, nature of pain. As the body keeps the score, the artist keeps the score through material depictions.

Eibh Gordon is a queer visual artist practicing in Bangor. In 2024 she graduated from Ulster University with a Masters Degree in Fine Art, prior to which she graduated with a Bachelors in Textile Art, Design and Fashion.

Fundamentally her work translates the intangible terror of her lived experience into physical objects, often through the lens of the body. Through visceral forms the artist materialises their experience with sexual assault, death and pain. The artist uses her spiritual and philosophical references as a framework for experimenting, to give structure to the practice.
Shades of red and burgundy are a signature of the artist’s visual language, acting as a thread, connecting across her use of textiles, glass, and ceramic.
This visual language is further informed by sympathetic magicks and how this practice manifested historically through artefacts.

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