“Roots” – Gallery of Modern Art Waterford

ily Day, a celebration of cycling and sustainability for all the family. Arrive early for our Slow Roll, a fun, slow cycle through the city for all wheels, abilities and bikes, leaving County Hall at 12 noon. We would particularly love to see any upcycled, weird and wonderful bikes! For cyclists of all abilities, there are leisure rides, family cycles, balance bikes, learn to cycle, obstacle courses, mountain bikes and off-road zones. Workshops are planned for bike maintenance and cial elements. e response is often shaped by sculptural abstract representations of the happenings related to the living organisms cultivated in the studio. e idea of space and its use is structured in his method of work in order to create installations combining traditional and nontraditional disciplines and techniques. Marco’s passion for photography helps to document the process and create photographic works.

Speaking to Marco on Saturday before the launch, he gave an insight into his work and process ing and renewal process now evident within the installation. is could also be seen as an act of self-care and selfpreservation carried out by Nature itself against us. is process is physical and material as well as emotional.

“My Environment is created by combining multiple materials, techniques and technologies. Nature is at the core of the living sculpture, which I have grown and cultivated within this installation work.

My Environment o ers the chance for the viewer to contemplate and re ect their symbiotic relationship to environments and nature’s vulnerability. While emphasising the importance of reconnection, change and care.”

Marco went on to quote Ernst Fischer to further explain his concept and his outlook on art and the world “In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also re ect decay unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable and help to change it.” e exhibition runs from April 28th to May 29th. Also this coming Saturady Marco Di Sante's will display work in "Bigger an Us", the upcoming 1st Year NCAD MFA group exhibition at Rua Red, Dublin from 5th-16th May.

Marco was born in Sora (Italy). He moved to Ireland’s capital in 2010 and has been living in Kilkenny since 2013. He recently graduated with a BA (Hons) in Visual Art from SETU Waterford and his nal work was long-listed for RDS Visual Art Awards and selected for GOMA Graduate Award Exhibition which will take place on 29th April 2023 in Waterford City. He is currently attending his rst year MFA at NCAD Dublin.

Local Kilkenny artist Marco

Di Sante'e exhibition "Roots" was launched last Saturday in GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art) in Waterford. Each year GOMA awards selected recent graduates in Ireland with an exhibition. is year graduates of Waterford Institute of Technology & Craw- ford College of Art and Design e exhibition showcases the work of two emerging artists from across a range of disciplines. e diversity of practice on show combined with a variety of methodologies creates interesting tensions for the viewer.

Highlighting the wealth of talent graduating annually.

Artists exhibiting as part of this exhibition are MARCO DI

SANTE who lives in Kilkenny & MONIKA KOSMOWSKA who lives in Cork.

Marco’s work is multidisciplinary and explores the contemporary relationship between nature and humans. e research is based on the understanding of what nature is and what our role is in it.

Ancient and modern cultures inform Marco’s practice surrounded by organic and arti-

From the beginning of this project, I aimed to create a physical relationship between me and the tiny intimate living organisms that I manually hydrated daily in the soil that I dug from my local neighbourhood in Kilkenny, that now nurtures and hosts a variety of living organisms within the soil.

I made this installation with the intention of emphasising the unchallenging power of nature against human’s continual interference within it. Nature’s powerful impact upon our daily existence is re ected within the decay-