Solvitur Ambulando

This project by Belfast based artist Catherine Devlin concentrates personal experiences, philosophical thinking and aesthetic ideas into a singular sculptural structure.

She write about her project

‘Reflecting on my recent experience of the Camino de Santiago, this installation plays with the contradictions of personal fears, in this case my favourite bête-noir: loneliness.
Until quite recently my dreams have predominately been concerned with building or repairing structures or simply rooms in which to gather and indeed protect my nearest and dearest, manifestly attesting a fear of being alone. Although these structures were doomed to failure, never coming anywhere near completion, I always rose to the ephemeral challenge with a fevered psycho-logical creativity.
In Galicia, my first encounter with an hórreo evoked a sense of bemused fascination: this temple-like raised structure seemed in a way to be a home, a beloved object, and yet ostracised. Over the following week I became enthralled by these small granaries, but to me they resonated an uncanny but endearing sense of sadness. And yet one of the greatest rewards to come from the Camino was the alone-ness, almost the loss of self.’