after is Anne Kenna’s response to the absence of images of oil in everyday life. Committed to exploring invisibilities in climate breakdown, she transforms materials such as bread, and decommissioned fire hoses, into a sculptural rendition of the troubling world of oil. The work considers the deliberate action by oil corporations to make oil invisible by hiding it behind images of comfort, efficiency and progress. This has disconnected us from the devastating consequences of an oil based lifestyle, preventing us from seeing the urgency and scale of the responses needed.
after is a counterbalance to this, an experience of the materiality of oil that asks the viewer to consider who benefits from its invisibility and who is paying and will continue to pay the price for it. This is difficult and challenging – but avoidance is surely a pathway to losing everything, a loss already marching away from us.
after, 2023.
time undone, 2023.
glass diatom, 2023.
woven table top, decommissioned fire hoses, 2023.
crude oil, 2023.
table setting for the end of the world, 2023.
pipeline view, 2023.
Research
clock making, 2023.
a piece of Francis Street, found object from oil terminal, clock pendulum, 2023.