Way back in February I submitted “HIVE” to the first stage of the RHA submission, online. It was their first time to do an online submission. It must been a omen for things to come, as the usual opening in May was postponed to October and now it as been postponed again but, it is has just been launched as an online exhibition. The exhibition can be visited online at https://rhagallery.viewingrooms.com/viewing-room/ where “HIVE” is on sale.

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Online submissions are a lottery as a photograph never does the work justice, so I was delighted that “HIVE” was accepted to proceed to the second stage of submission. This was more like the old ways of doings things, taking the work up to the RHA in Dublin, handing it in and hoping you don’t have to go back up a couple of weeks later to pick it up. In fact, the Covid improved the experience as there was no queuing and worrying about parking meters and getting clamped. I arrived at my time slot and I was in and out in 2 minutes. The good news is I didn’t have to go back as I was selected.

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HIVE: A vessel, a pod, a haven for insects! The pattern is individual cells, a latticework for individual organisms, colonial, like the corals fossilised in the carboniferous limestone of which the vessel is formed . A framework for life to extend their honeycombs, to grow their larvae. Wasps nests and bee hives were the inspiration. The idea of inside-out and outside-in is explored. The top of the pod has been inverted or flipped inside out to expose the internal pattern.