Visual Art: Heart Tracing by Paul Roy at the Esker Arts Centre

Heart tracing is a medical test looking at the electrical rhythm of the heart.

For Paul, as a chronically ill person, the sense of heart both physically and emotionally, speaks to almost every aspect of life; it represents the core of grief, longing, love and absence, all intensely felt within, it bears the burdens of illness and loss.

The intention of Paul Roy’s visual arts practice has always been that the works are the initiation of a conversation with the audience. The aesthetics come from the consideration that text as an artistic tool has the potential to be more immediately accessible and familiar.

When he presents words and poetry as art, he is trying to avoid dictating to the viewer how they must think about an image, or defining how it must be approached. Instead, he is saying to them, “here are some of my thoughts, what are yours?”.

Heart Tracing runs at the Esker Arts Centre from 18 January to 15 March, for more information visit eskerarts.ie

Paul Roy is based in Westmeath, you can learn more about him and his work by visiting paulroy.eu

Image: Follow the Path by Paul Roy.