Window Text: It Is & I Am.

Launched during Foyle Pride, our next window text commission is It Is & I Am. by Emma Brennan and Reuben Brown. Ten artists/writers were invited to create one page of text – a completely open brief. The texts range from dense, deeply personal accounts to bold slogans, personal, political, observations or a call to action, each capturing the different thoughts and feelings of the author. The texts have been designed by different artists and designers and printed in a risograph edition by Derry Print Workshop.

The texts are visible from CCA's windows, each for two weeks, as well as visible online here and distributed across our region. All ten will be available later in the year as a bundle edition available to buy from CCA's shop as a fundraiser.

It Is & I Am.
Author: Emma Brennan
Designer: Reuben Brown
Printer: Derry Print Workshop
Risograph edition of 200

About the author & designer:

Emma Brennan is an interdisciplinary artist who works predominantly in performative practices to include multi-media installation, moving image and collaborative processes. Based between Belfast and Dublin she has shown work as part of multiple exhibitions and festivals locally, nationally and internationally. Brennan is a board member of both Bbeyond Belfast and Live Art Ireland, Tipperary.

“It is & I am” is an assertion and personal manifesto Emma adopted within this work. It was arrived at through conversation within the community of Queer and Feminist artists and cultural practitioners. In its certainty, this affirmation points to questions of self-identification and the politics of presentation that she hopes she expands upon through her practice. It is one answer to the questions of what is Queer art? Who is a Queer artist? Taking these questions as a starting point, Emma wishes to move through material exploration to reflect on Queerness in art-making, seeking expansion and fluidity, remaining open to multitudes of meanings rather than limiting definitive answers.

emmabrennanartist.com | @emma_breadman

Reuben Brown is an emerging visual artist and curator currently based in Belfast, specialising in 3D-CGI (computer-generated) animation and filmography, interactive and experiential installation and performance. He is a member and studio-holder at QSS Artist Studios and Gallery and the founder and curator of emerging Belfast-based scenography, visual arts and ephemeral architecture collective, “club [construction]”. Reuben has exhibited extensively locally, nationally and internationally and was the recipient of the General Art Award (SIAP) [2023-24], and the Individual Artist Digital Evolution Award (IADE)[2022-23], and as a result his practice is supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland through the National Lottery.

Reuben created the image in response to Emma Brenna’s text It Is & I Am. Hoping to capture the sudden and bold, yet fleeting textures of the dialogue-based text, he developed a vibrant monochromatic design printed in a stunning fluorescent pink - a hue that bares a multitude of complex historical and cultural connotations to the LGBTQ+ community. Reflecting the dialect spoken in the text, Reuben utilised a shot of several bodies in embrace from a body of work he has been creating exploring the ephemeral energies of spaces, bodies and identities.

reubenbrownartist.cargo.site | @reubenbrownartist

This project was made possible thanks to support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Derry City & Strabane District Council and Art Fund.