Traces of Him Left Behind responds to the rural landscape of Skeirke, Co. Laois, as a visual memoir. A seemingly insignificant family lot is treated as an archaeological excavation of history, memory and traces of a consequential familial figure to the artist, their Grandad. With his passing there were no letters, words of comfort or sentimental heirlooms left behind but a field of wooden sheds and objects which are a physical memory of the hard work once carried out by him. 

This multifaceted installation comprising of analogue photography, moving image and immersive sculpture invites inspection and reflection through the mirrored experience of grief experienced by Andrea Moore while bearing witness to the absence of her Grandad amongst what remains.

The photographs are akin to a barren wasteland, but a dual interpretation is evident. The viewer observes discarded machinery and rotted wood. The Artist associates this place as welcoming and sentimental. Each decayed object representative of an aspect of their maternal grandfather. As the moving image flickers from family imagery to John’s lonely jacket it portrays a sense of memory and fleeting time. 

 The shed with the carefully curated objects is a memorial honouring the physicality of the labour John endured throughout his life, and by upkeeping the tradition of manual labour the construction of this project was an act of love, through which the Artist re-established a sense of intergenerational connection and came to terms with grief.