MUTUALISM
December 7, 2023 - January 11, 2024
Rayleen Clancy and Beatrice O’Connell
A Speculative Ecofeminist Installation
The Courthouse Gallery & Studios (CHG&S) is delighted to feature MUTUALISM, an immersive ecofeminist installation by artists Rayleen Clancy and Beatrice O’Connell, curated by Simon Fennessy Corcoran and presented by Éanna Byrt. This exhibition, the culmination of two years of creative dialogue, is a celebration of interconnectedness, exploring the intersection of human, animal, and feminine energies.
Drawing on influences as diverse as early cinema, puppet shows, and shadow play, MUTUALISM weaves together video works, assemblages of salvaged materials, and a playful, absurdist aesthetic. The installation challenges traditional perspectives and opens up space for reflection on the potential for harmonious coexistence among all living beings.
At the centre of the installation is a captivating experimental film. It follows an overwhelmed housewife as she navigates her kitchen-laundry room, only to discover a portal to another dimension. This surreal journey transforms her as she uncovers her divine feminine essence—a personal awakening that echoes a broader possibility of mutualistic relationships with the natural world. By integrating found footage with real-world imagery, the film shifts the narrative on ecological concerns towards one of hope and transformation, celebrating the potential for change through collective imagination and care.
Through this thought-provoking exhibition, Rayleen and Beatrice invite us to embrace creativity, play, and community as tools to deepen our understanding of life’s interconnectedness. MUTUALISM inspires viewers to consider their own place in the ecosystem and the possibilities for positive change that emerge from connection and compassion.
The Washing Machine as Ecofeminist Portal
In the making of the cardboard washing machine, I consciously engage with discarded cardboard packaging from IKEA, an emblematic symbol of contemporary mass consumerism. Using this often overlooked material, a seemingly "useless" washing machine is constructed, an ironic commentary on the ways in which domestic labour, particularly that performed by women, is commodified, invisible, and often undervalued. This sculptural assemblage, while ostensibly functional, serves no practical purpose—it is a symbolic deconstruction of a world where objects, labour, and bodies are all consumed and discarded in an endless cycle.
The washing machine, traditionally associated with repetitive, often invisible, domestic work, becomes a potent metaphor for the ways in which women’s labour is entangled with the forces of mass production and consumerism. As this object stands, non-operational yet ever-present, it forces the viewer to confront the absurdity of the commodification of domestic roles—roles that, like the cardboard itself, are at once disposable and foundational.
However, beneath this critique lies a deeper, more hopeful layer. The cardboard sculpture, in all its fragility, also becomes a portal—a gateway into a reciprocal ecofeminist world where domestic labour, nature, and the materials we discard are interconnected in a sustainable and nurturing way. Just as cardboard, when repurposed, becomes a new form, the work suggests the possibility of reinvention and transformation. It points to a world where discarded things are not wasted, but are reimagined with care, and where the labour of care—often associated with women and nature—is recognized as valuable, vital, and sacred.
In this way, the sculpture is both a critique and an invitation: a call to reconsider our relationships with the objects, women’s work, and environments that we often take for granted, and a vision of a future where those relationships are nurtured, restored, and made whole.