Institute of Art Design + Technology
Dún Laoghaire

Saoirse Melia 

 
BA [Hons] Art

Saoirse Melia’s practice focuses on the relationship between words and perception, and her current work also deals with personal themes of intimacy and mental health. She is interested in the entanglements that exist between words, images and memories, which can change over time. In particular, she explores how differences in composition, structure, size and colour, as well as forms of textual repetition, might affect the process of comprehension. She has exhibited in IADT student shows such as High Heart (Pallas Projects/Studios, 2021), Making the Intangible Tangible (United Arts Club, 2019), and Perceived Dimensions (IMMA, 2018).

Project Description

Words and images, wrapped up in our memories, become distorted over time. Each story and tradition handed down to the next generation is modified, changed minutely by the person they are passed onto. The meaning is never as clear as the moment a picture was captured, or a recipe was written down. As someone who grew up with an unconventional experience with language, I am intrigued by the visual viability of text and the written word. Within this project I have been investigating theories associated with psychotherapy, specifically the Internal Family Systems model, and researching how our internal emotional reality can impact how we interact perceptually with space and objects. By combining different materials with images and words, my work attempts to shine a light on the limits and capabilities of language, in order to explore the relationship between memory, internal reality and perception.