Materials Matter

Materials Matter Collaboration / Collective / Projects. Ireland.  2020 – Present.

Materials Matter/Ábhar Ábhar is a collaborative project devised by three artists and educators, Clare Breen, Mary Conroy, and Laura Ní Fhlaibhín. Their individual practices share the common denominator of sustainability and environmental awareness within the process of art production.

We were awarded the inaugural ArtLinks Collaboration Award in 2020 to develop the Materials Matter project. This is an ongoing project that includes materials development, public workshops, and artist residencies.

Materials Matter / Ábhar Ábhar is a container, a holder, a way of thinking, and a movement that explores the production of sustainable art materials. The aim is to bring together practices and forgotten ways of working that are passed along, embellished, reworked, indigenous, or partially remembered.

We live in a time where we need to change our approach to production and consumption. We have all become disconnected from the mass-produced products we use in our daily lives – artists and their materials are no exception. These three art workers share the desire to develop and disseminate a way of working that not only reflects their own personal commitment to material sustainability within their practices, but a desire to assist others to make art sustainably.

This website documents research, testing, developing, and collating a series of methods and recipes for the production of natural and DIY art materials and tools. This resource aims to revive craft knowledge and the use of natural materials while working with low cost, locally-sourced raw ingredients.

Please visit our full website with recipe repository here

And our Instagram here