Sandra Zanetti

My time at Live Art Ireland was a gentle reminder that an artist has to follow their own knowing before meaning arrives. Being in a place where I had the time and space to do exactly that allowed me to bring performances to fruition through ideas that felt tender, unfinished, strange, or messy, without having to explain them straight away.

My time at the residency focused on processing and finding softness in what cannot be resolved, through performances that blend somatic practice, site-specific responses, durational action, and attempted invocations. The opportunity to (re)connect with attention to the landscape, to what surfaced in my body, and to small gestures allowed these fragments to just surface naturally so they could build their own logic beyond conventional knowledge. It shifted my practice away from developing a fixed narrative and towards something more intuitive, where uncertainty is part of the experience rather than a problem to solve before performing.

The residency also gave me the chance to begin directing a new film, in which my partner and I perform. I left feeling less interested in polished resolutions and more interested in work that never really ends. Live Art Ireland became less a place to finish something and more a supportive space to sit with better questions. Biggest shout-out to Joanna & Deej for their thoughtfulness and care throughout the residency. Looking forward to crossing paths again someday soon.