Sculpture & Combined Media
Michelle Hickey
Michelle Hickey’s series of works Nonconformance includes three sculptures and is influenced by a potential terrorist attack at Shannon Airport owing to the Irish Governments complicity in contentious US Military landings at Shannon Airport since the War on Terror began in 2001 contrary to Irelands neutrality laws. Hickey was inspired by John Kennedy’s “The Watchers” and peace and human rights organisations who protest to this day the use of Shannon Airport by the US Army who conduct military and rendition flights. Eyewitness accounts of munitions carried on board these aircraft are one of the motivations behind their protests. The colour Orange was specifically chosen to represent clothing worn by prisoners at the Guantanamo facility run by the US Government. Hickey chose aviation graded vinyl with a reflective quality to shine a light on these issues and to draw attention to the idea of what can and cannot be seen with the naked eye.