Jun 3 2009

You Are Invited

“The Social Contract”

An exhibition of new work by Molly Mishkas & Logan McLain.

NCAD Gallery, 100 Thomas Street, Dublin 8.
Opening 5th June, 4.30 pm
Show runs until Friday 26th June

The individuality that fragments our society is somehow stitched together as our actions are constrained by conscience. The depth of humanity can be judged by its attempts to make minorities inalienable.

 


Logan Mc Lain

This work continues the exploration of themes of morality in Ireland through the textile medium.  The pieces themselves are a reflection on attitudes sustained in Irish society by long established stereotypes. They focus on some very raw examples of contemporary living issues that are pigeon-holed with the disadvantaged areas of Dublin. Of course, every social issue in Ireland is currently under-pinned by the economic climate or indeed the lack of one.

Samples of Irish humour and satirical phrases are collected from candid conversations, text messages and e-mails are represented through the use of stitch. The work presents, in a public space, what we as Irish people like to laugh about amongst ourselves.  

 

“Danger! Kids”

Logan McLain 2009

 


 

Molly Mishkas

Molly Mishkas uses life both as a medium and as a raw subject matter. Her work raises ethical issues – deep rooted perceptions of life and identity, the concept of self and the position of the human being juxtaposed against the prejudices of personal moral development.

Sacrosanct lines are being crossed by science and business everyday in the incessant pursuit of globalisation. The loss of traditional culture, ‘branding’ of social dysfunction and the ‘chemical remedy’ of it, blurs the genetic spontaneity that enriches the fabric of our society. It is our responsibility to realise that, it is only through diversity, we as humanity, can progress towards a saner, and even more, colourful future.

This sentiment can be crystallised by Carl Jung when he stated, “The main conflict lies in generally accepted notions of who is normal and who is not”.

 

“Helen”

Molly Mishkas, 2009


May 31 2009

I Need to Clean

Well… this place is a mess and the image below relays my feelings about cleaning.

Stitched Bollix

Stitched Bollix


May 25 2009

Transforming a Hoodie

Cooper is all dead chuffed with himself because he got me to stitch a cool transformers logo onto his hoodie (which the cheap git bought in Penny’s for 9 euros… “you can’t go wrong for the 9 juros love!”

Cooper's Transformers Hoodie

Cooper's Transformers Hoodie


May 22 2009

Creative Revenge

So my mother was rubbing my nose in the fact that Liverpool didn’t win the Premiership. The cheeky cow hung a newspaper article about the winners (We won’t mention them here) on my wall this morning.

Scum

Scum

I had to respond to this blatant defamation of my personal space so I put my creativity and my fancy PR620 machine to good use to get my revenge. I produced the image below and stitched it onto her pillow case. She is currently unaware of this little surprise, I’m sure she will sleep well tonight.

Liverpool FC Pillowcase

Liverpool FC Pillowcase

You'll Never Sleep Alone

You'll Never Sleep Alone


May 9 2009

CPD Round 2

Today saw me back in the Blackrock Education Centre to teach the second of two lessons, below are a few examples of the really fatastic work that was produced by participants in a very short time.

CPD Work

Dandy

Textures


May 6 2009

DADA-DADA-DEE (dada-dada-dum)

I’m the envy of many a man, I have Hilary Cahill’s phone number. The (smokin’ hot) director of the Dublin Academy of Dramatic Arts keeps my creative graphic design inclinations motoring. Here are two posters I designed for DADA productions.

The Misanthrope by Moliere

The Misanthrope by Moliere

Wonder In Aliceland Poster

Wonder In Aliceland Poster

Wonder in Aliceland Poster

May 4 2009

Decadance

Living a decadent lifestyle. Fat basslines, rap coke lines, ecstasy and fine lines between work, play and working deadlines. Did you even sleep this weekend man?

Logan McLain

Logan McLain Stitched Drawing

Logan McLain Stitched Drawing


Apr 26 2009

Bad Ass Muffin

I stitched him out onto white felt… I still have to make adjustments to the design file. Sampling, it never ends.

logan-mclain-hey-fatass
logan-mclain-hey-fatass-detail


Apr 25 2009

CPD

I was in the Blackrock Education Centre today facilitating the first of two classes on embroidery as part of Continual Professional Development for second level teachers. In the class we looked at a wide range of art and design textile images that covered many themes and techniques.

After making our own designs we explored several techniques for transferring images to fabric. We also looked at some basic hand stitches including back stitch, fly stitch, buttonhole stitch, seeding, couching, appliqué, satin stitch and padded satin stitch. Louise Allen, Education Officer from the Crafts Council of Ireland, paid a visit to the class to see the work.

Continual Professional Development (Embroidery)

Participants in the CPD Embroidery Class


Apr 19 2009

Hey! Fatass!

Crap. I’m on a “health food” diet. I would cut you for a muffin , I swear. To try to deal with my cravings for things I am no longer allowed to eat I have designed this little bastard using PE Design software. I just updated the software with the new “Beat Vista Into Submission” patch. Great.

Hey! Fat Ass!

Hey! Fat Ass!

I’ll post the image when I get around to stitching this bad boy onto something. I want a cookie.


Apr 19 2009

WordPress Stress

Wordpress Stress

Wordpress Stress

Yeah all this for a blog. In typical Logan style, when I should be completely focused on one project I find my time is divided by many things. My ‘To Do’ list this weekend is work like a bitch on new pieces for the upcoming exhibition, write projects for the NCAD CEAD accredited course, prepare for CPD, submit my next bi-monthly report to the CCOI on what I’ve spent their money on and do a bit more work on my craft piece (Helen and Nigel know what that means :P ).

So in the midst of all this? Great idea! I’ll rearrange my website by installing Wordpress and then learn how to use the damn thing. So this is the progress so far. You’ll notice the t-shirts and research pages are ‘missing’… I’ll get to it ok? But now I have a blog! A proper blog… let’s see if I keep it up to date.

Hilary where the hell are you? You’re the blog fiend. Comment already. This is all for your benefit.


Mar 19 2009

Don’t Make This Guy Cross

Mr. X Stitch

Mr. X Stitch

Wandering the web again for “contemporary cross stitch” (yes there is such a thing). And here it is! The wonderful blog of Jamie Chalmers aka. Mr. X Stitch.

I got in touch to let him know his blog rocks and he decided to publish a few images, big up representing of the Irish stitchers and bitchers. Legend.

Check me out on Mr. X Stitch by clicking here.

He publishes all things textiles and trendy in his blog which in itself is a fantastic resource for anyone looking to get a far stretching snap shot of what the heck people are doing with their needles and their threads.

He also offers some really cool cross stitch patterns at low low prices – satisfying your crafty needs and guaranteeing a slick finished piece… What more could you ask for?!
Check out www.mrxstitch.com – you’ll nay be disappointed wee laddie!


Feb 28 2009

Aaron Noble, Super Confusing

Aaron Noble

Aaron Noble

I came across this artist while browsing the web today, really interesting work. I spent a few minutes trying to make sense of the image.

I knew instantly from looking at the bright colours and dramatic shadows that the image was obviously some sort of superhero “battle in progress”. But I struggled to make sense of the forms as they led my eye around the beautifully balanced composition, i kept following what i thought was an arm only to be led to the start of another brightly colour appendage instead of finding a torso. I visited the artist’s site to read that the images are comprised of the body parts of superhero’s combined, stretched and floating in negative space.

Take a look at the website of Aaron Noble


Feb 1 2009

NCAD Gallery

NCAD Gallery

NCAD Gallery

The Gallery Committee at NCAD has invited me to exhibit in the new NCAD Gallery to coincide with the June 2009 graduate degree shows.

The show will be a two person exhibition featuring myself and Fine Art graduate Molly Mishkas.


Jan 22 2009

Art & Commercialism

Youre So Gay

You're So Gay

Here’s a snap from the one day stand I had at this year’s Showcase ‘09 exhibition.

This was my first time doing Showcase and I didn’t really know what to expect because I wasn’t able to make it to the information seminars.

Overall, it was good but not the right place for what I had to show. It was a very good learning experience for me as I got to see behind the scenes of an event like this, what goes on with organisation, setup, insurance etc. It would be ideal if I were to develop a very commercial generic line of products from my work.

My current t-shirts are aimed at a very niche market and are almost novelty in nature. One designer I spoke to told me she had a “bread and butter” range of work but still took some time to produce the work she really wanted to regardless of its less commercial nature. Everyone has bills and I guess if you’re an innovative and creative person looking to pay those bills Showcase is great.


Jan 2 2009

Showcase 2009

 

Love

Love

Showcase 2009 opens in the RDS this weekend and I will be there on Sunday at stand number A299 for the day showing some t-shirts and embroidery work.

I’ll also have two pieces in the Home Buyers Lounge. As I said in an earlier post I wanted to respond to the pope’s comments. I’m not sure if the work really belongs in a home buyers lounge… unless you’re an anti-catholic gay rights home owner.

Here’s a wee image of what I’ve been making over Xmas – “Love”, you won’t find much of that around here.


Jan 2 2009

Lisa Kokin

Lisa Kokin

Lisa Kokin

I’ve been working on a piece with loads of coloured dots over the past few days and while trawling the web I came across this amazing work by Lisa Kokin.

She works with buttons and mixed media in a variety of styles, it’s well worth looking through her site. I’ve added a permanent link to the links page.

I love that when you start looking at something you start seeing it everywhere… though seeing coloured dots is something you should probably have checked out. I can here my boss Philip saying, “Logan, where attention goes, energy flows!”


Dec 31 2008

El Papa Don’t Preach

Muppet

Muppet

Oh now he’s pissed me off. I’m in no way religious and it kind of frightens me to think that millions of people pick up a book written by men and believe that it’s the word of some higher power without ever confirming these things for themselves. The opposite of courage is not fear – it’s conformity.

Click here to read the pope’s views.

(He does look like that bad guy from Star Wars)


Dec 30 2008

Dr. Helen Mc Allister

Dr. Helen McAllister

Dr. Helen McAllister

It was very recently announced that Dr. Helen McAllister will be taking up the role of Head of Fashion and Textiles Department in NCAD.

All your students wish you the very best in your new post.


Dec 23 2008

My Multihead Arrived!

PR-620 Digital Embroidery Machine

PR-620 Digital Embroidery Machine

My Multihead Machine arrived this week! Here it is in all its shiny white molded plastic glory, special thanks to Susan O’Sullivan for sorting me out.

Getting set up in my new “Studio” this week (AKA our converted garage) so its off to Argos with me to buy some cheap shelves. I’m going to have to think of a name for my new baby.


Dec 17 2008

Digital Media at NCAD

Digital Media Prop

Digital Media Prop

This week saw me back in NCAD teaching Digital Media to the 2nd Year Students who had to produce a short stop-frame animation.

One of the students presented me with a prop from their film. I was very amused.


Dec 15 2008

Stop the press

Stoppress Magazine

Stoppress Magazine

I appeared in StopPress Magazine this month in an article about the winners of the CCOI awards.

Nigel said I looked sexy, then he gave out to me for posting it on my blog. The important thing is the sexy exposure of my crafty bits.


Oct 30 2008

CCOI 3rd Level Awrds Ceremony 2008

The Crafts Council of Ireland hosted the Third Level Award Ceremony on Tuesday 14th October at the Craft Gallery in Kilkenny. The Postgraduate award went to me, the undergraduate award went to Eily O’Connor and two special merit awards were given to David Withers and Nuala Ní Fhlathúin.


Oct 28 2008

Faith in Form

A small version of my MA piece “The Black Babies” is on exhibition as part of the Faith in Form conference in Kinsale, Cork next weekend 18th-22nd October 2008.

Faith in form is a national juried exhibition of contemporary sacred art showcasing challenging approaches from artists articulating Christian faith in a contemporary language.

This exhibition will provide the context for a weekend of events exploring the threshold between current art forms and the modern Church, to be held in the new, contemporary spaces of the Carmelite Friary, Kinsale.

Saturday, 18th October speakers include: Patrick Pye, artist; Rev. Charles Pickstone, art critic, author, Anglican priest; Laura Moffatt, Director of Art + Christianity UK.

Faith in Form Exhibition
Faith in Form Exhibition
Faith in Form Exhibition Space

Faith in Form Exhibition Space


Aug 15 2008

RDS National Crafts Competition 2008

I was accepted into the RDS National Crafts Competition 2008 in the Traditional Embroidery category, That’s hand stitch to you and me, where I won first prize in my category and the Máirín O’Brien Flegg Memorial Award for Traditional Embroidery 2008. I was also nominated for the IACI Muriel Gahan Scholarship and Development Grant 2008.

Nigel Cheney won several prizes in the Contemporary Embroidery category and NCAD Education graduate Kate Lennon had her work on display and won a prize in the Multimedia Textiles.

 

 

Click here to view a pod cast of the RDS National Crafts Competition 2008 exhibition