Please join O’Brien Farm & Crux Art for:
Brendan Farren's
Artist In Residence Closing Reception and unveiling of:
'Artistic Residue'
Tuesday June 24th, 2025 at 5:00pm at the O'Brien Farm Interpretation Center
Brendan Farren is finishing a month-long International Artist Residency at O'Brien Farm. Please join us for wine and cheese and hear about the making of Artistic Residue – what's left behind by the artist after they leave.
Brendan will be unveiling a carving in dedication to his father-in-law, Aidan O'Hara and also to the robins – who have been his constant companion on the farm from day one.
"Inspired by the farm environs, a moment in time in the long life of this living farm, including the amazing people who frequent the place. My 'residue' is dedicated to them."
Brendan Farren calls his art practice Big Green Art, and since 1992 he has been creating art which uses natural materials, or has an environmental focus. This work includes weaving willow and hazel rods into sculptures and baskets, carving wood and stone with natural themes such as animals, illustrating magazines and publications with pen and ink drawings, painting murals of nature, and building shelter using natural materials. Brendan has worked often as a community artist with a wide variety of groups. Brendan’s home is a hand- built, breathable, carbon-neutral house made from hemp, lime and timber.
Parking at O'Brien's Farm, 150 Oxen Pond Road, St. John's
If you are arriving at O'Brien Farm via O'Brien's hill, please use the parking lot just past the farm on the right-hand side. We encourage you to share rides where possible, please let us know if you need transport to the farm. There is disabled parking available directly next to the Interpretation Center aka Brendans Studio.
Thanks and we hope to see you there!
Please let me know if you have any questions and we hope to see you there!
Event Address: O'Brien Farm, 150 Oxen Pond Road, St. John’s
Parking available just past the main house.
Brendan Farren
from Greencastle, Co. Donegal Ireland
Remote 2024, Onsite in NL 2025
Brendan Farren calls his art practice Big Green Art, and since 1992 he has been creating art which uses natural materials, or has an environmental focus. This work includes weaving willow and hazel rods into sculptures and baskets, carving wood and stone with natural themes such as animals, illustrating magazines and publications with pen and ink drawings, painting murals of nature, and building shelter using natural materials. Brendan has worked often as a community artist with a wide variety of groups. Brendan’s home is a hand- built, breathable, carbon-neutral house made from hemp, lime and timber.
Exciting news! Crux is welcoming Christine Mackey from Co. Leitrim, Ireland
to the O’Brien Farm in St. John’s in August-September 2025
Christines interdisciplinary artistic practice is one of profound stewardship, observation and care for the environment, and is deeply rooted in site-specific land and marine-based work. Seasonal processes range from collecting seeds, to weaving floating islands, to nourishing native tree saplings, to the cultivation of waste ground. Current work resonates with urgent issues of biodiversity loss, species extinction, energy crises, and habitat destruction, while at the same time highlighting positive themes of renewal, awareness, and change.
Shane Finan
from Leitrim, Ireland traveled to
St. John’s NL, Canada. 2024
Shane assembles artworks from interactive contemporary technologies, found objects and traditional artistic media. His work is based in rural environments and examines technologies in human and nonhuman entanglements.
He always collaborates. Most recently working with lichen, artists, epidemiologists, historians, gorse and fungi. As part of his practice he organizes and runs collaborative projects with artists and researchers.
Shane has been awarded Artist In Residency in Ireland, Austria, the UK and Canada. He has co-founded the art collective and workspace ^ in Manorhamilton, IRE in 2022 for experimental collaboration and research around art, landscape and technology. Shane has received an Arts Council of Ireland Bursary Award, and Agility Awards and has been funded by Culture Ireland, Creative Europe, Wicklow Arts Office, Leitrim Arts Office and the Irish Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media: Decade of Centenaries.
Shane was invited by Crux Arts and part supported by Artlink, Fort Dunree to carry out artistic research. He traveled to Newfoundland in September 2024 for a 3 week research residency. He spent time investigating the place and history of the first few transatlantic telegraph cables laid in the 1850s and the current fiber optic ones that carry internet signal. He spent time with our beaches, our lichen and meeting key members of our community.
During his research, Shane visited the cable landing site and museum at Heart's Content where he began work on a video installation about subsea communications infrastructure.
Photos: Curtesy of the artist, Shane Finan