Isles of the Dead

Isles of the Dead began with a journey which I undertook in 2005, during the course of which I travelled to four islands dedicated to Saint Michael: San Michele in Venice, Mont St Michel in Brittany, St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall and Skellig Michael, which lies off the coast of County Kerry.

I made the trip with Böcklin’s celebrated image The Isle of the Dead in mind. It too depicts a journey. Indeed Böcklin’s isle shares many features with the four islands. At each island I filmed the act of crossing over from the mainland. These journeys were very different from one another - a short walk across a beach to St Michael’s Mount, an even shorter walk over a causeway to Mont St Michel, a waterbus to San Michele and a rough motor launch trip out into the Atlantic to Skellig Michael. Along the way I discovered that at one time Mont St Michel had itself been known as the Isle of the Dead.

For the completed piece I have realised Böcklin’s image in 3D (or one version of it—he produced five paintings of the subject), and the four crossings have been combined into a video which is projected onto it. The boat in Böcklin’s painting is absent from my piece - the point of view of the soul crossing over to the island is contained within the video.

projects and exhibitions

Isles of the Dead
2006. Installation. Resin, hessian, wire, enamel paint, pond liner; water, video projection

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