beyond the pale

Beyond the Pale Artists Statement from an exhibition @ the Cooroy butterfactory 2005. relates to images of fire and figures


An Exhibition Exploring Memory, Loss and Renewal in Celtic Culture.


These sculptures are inspired by my interest in the land of my ancestors and the art forms they practiced in the period roughly 300bc to 500ad. These times, images and stories are my ancestral heritage and have impressed themselves upon me strongly over many years.

I am also influenced by German expressionism. Having lived in Düsseldorf with Andreas Dettloff after college in 1982, I developed sympathy for artists such as Mathias Gruenawald, Max Beckman, Georges Roualt, Max Ernest, & Joseph Buyes. Their way of seeing human experience as irrational, primal experience harks back to early Germanic ways of expression. These forms can also bee seen in early Romanesque sculpture and craft. This collection of images feeds into my views about pre Roman Celtic art and the world view portrayed in it’s material culture.


Without being superstitious, it has become apparent to me that memory is genetically stored and passed on. Images, sounds, ways of seeing, character traits and physical appearance are our genetic and cultural heritage. This information submerges but does not disappear. Much identity is stored and passed on, it is there to be explored as we choose.


Beyond the Pale refers to the imaginary line that the English drew around Dublin that defined where it was safe to go for civilized English men. Beyond this boundary you were beyond redemption in their eyes. As Cromwell said to the Irish “ To hell or to Connaght” as he proceed to oversee their slaughter in the name of his protestant religion, ie. English political and economic interests.


This exhibition celebrates the beauty of an intensely creative period and also remembers the sorrow of the injustice and suppression of Celtic Culture by the Romans and the English. These are themes that are with us today and will be for some time to come. The good thing about Celtic culture is that has been revived and flourishes.


This exhibition is dedicated to creative people everywhere who are unbowed in the face of bullying and oppression. To those who’s experience lies outside of polite boundaries and are considered to be “beyond the pale”.


Mark O’Neill 2005