Time Cuts Like A Knife (2023) is an artwork by John Conway featuring neon text in English and Arabic with illustrations of a dagger and an animated hourglass. It will be on display in Waterford Gallery of Art until 3rd February 2024.
Time Cuts Like A Knife is an anglicised and truncated version of the Arabic expression – الوقت كالسيف ان لم تقطع ه قطع ك – which arose during workshops with young people from ethnically diverse backgrounds in Tramore, County Waterford, in November 2022. During these workshops young people took part in written and spoken creative exercises and spray-painted. The aim of the workshops was to explore expressions and language.
From the artist’s perspective, ‘Time Cuts Like A Knife’ refers to systematic harm and violence enabled and enacted over the course of time through indifference and inaction.
Produced and curated by Sandra Kelly, with engagement with young people supported by staff at Ocean View Accommodation. The project is funded by Creative Ireland, Waterford with support from Garter Lane Arts Centre.
About the Artist
John Conway is a socially engaged visual artist based in Rua Red Arts Centre. His work is characterised by experimentation with sculptural and artistic forms, sensitivity to context and a robust interrogation of artistic processes across collaborative contextual work and formalised gallery output. He frequently works with other arts and non-arts specialists and orchestrates complex multi-stakeholder projects.
