The Weight of Mountains 

2019

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The Weight of Mountains depicts the entrance to the Global Seed Vault: an unassuming, almost dystopian structure set against the barren, frozen terrain. What the surface does not reveal is the true depth of the vault itself, extending 150 metres into the mountain's permafrost core.

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Established in 2008, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault serves as a secure repository, preserving duplicates of seeds from around the world to safeguard global crop diversity against potential crises. There is an obscurity both in the image and in the situation it portrays—a tension between surface and hidden depths that echoes in the title.

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The Weight of Mountains gestures toward what remains unseen: the burden of futures held quietly within an entombed repository of life.

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Exhibited at Solstice Arts Centre 2020, The Glucksman 2022, DLR Lexicon Municipal Gallery 2022, LHQ Gallery 2023, Glór 2025. 

 

This work was supported by funding from the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon and is included in the Office of Public Works (OPW) State Art Collection.