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ARTSDESK THE ANNUAL Every year artists submit the
ir works to the RHA gallery in the hope of being selected for their prestigious annual exhibition which guarantees exposure and promises sales. We caught up with three artists who are among the 523 works in show selected from 3900 submissions. words Michael McDermott URSULA BURKE Flag Porcelain and stain “I made the sculpture Flag soon after returning from a Fellowship at the British School at Rome in 2014, which had a foundational impact on me and my work. Being immersed in the culture and art of Rome for an extended period of time, which is also considered the epicentre of classical art representation was incredibly inspirational for my work. I had come from and returned to Belfast after the fellowship where cultural rivalries in the form of post conflict Northern Ireland was ever present. “In making this piece I attempted to create a conceptual bridge between the classical world in form whilst also embedding the work with concepts relating to the nation state, borders and identities in sites of conflict. The young girl in the sculpture wears tattoos from both the British and Irish communities. She is both cultures and neither all at once. Wrapped around her and flowing through her is a flag. She represents a new and emerging identity in the region where rather than identifying as Irish or British, a third identity has emerged where the young people claim to be Northern Irish. Northern Ireland is not a country or a state, but it becomes an ambiguous place in our imagination which allows for emerging and successful states of being to be established in order for the precarious status quo to prosper in the region.” ursulaburke.com 50