These paintings explore the gap between the idea of Ireland as an imagined space, and the lived experience of landscape in the village of Ballycastle in North Mayo. Each day, a slow uncurling from winter into spring created a consonance between the real inhabited landscape and the illusary Ireland gleaned from literature.
.
The House Where the People Live 2017 oil on linen 81cm x 73cm
The House Where the Rooks Live (detail) 2017 oil on linen 81 x 73cm
The Living and the Dead 2017 oil on linen 40 x 36cm
Tempered by the past these paintings used an arcane 19th century device known as a ‘Claude Glass’. The glass is a black mirror whose convex lens distorted features of the landscape and allowed the viewer to peer into a miniaturised, darkly exaggerated world.
Dreaming of Malmaison 2016 oil on linen 150 x 110cm
Rough Cradle for Such Little Pretty Ones 2015 oil on linen 150 x 110cm
Incursion 2015 oil on linen 160 x 120cm
This year long printmaking project examined Virgil’s classical text The Aeneid (85 BC). In his epic Roman poem Virgil gives us a glimpse of Italy before the arrival of 'the rule of law'. The prints focus on two of Virgil's savage children, the first is the twin Romulus, who was clothed in a red wolf skin, and the second is the fierce maid Camilla, who was suckled by wild animals and raised as a warrior.
Searching for Romulus 2012 sugarlift aquatint 27 x 30cm
Camilla 2012 unique state monotype 50 x 42cm
Circle of Animals (detail) 2012 sugarlift aquatint 60 x 40cm
And Raised her as a Warrior 2012 sugarlift aquatint 27 x 30cm
The House at Aldinga 2014 oil on linen 112 x 91cm
Remembering The Star of Greece 2014 oil on linen 112 x 91c,
Shelter 2013 oil on linen 112 x 91cm
Confluence 2013 oil on linen 91 x 91cm
Remembering the Delabole Road 2014 sugarlift aquatint
Listening 2015 monotype print 35 x 55cm
Magnolia Grandiflora 2016 monotype print 46 x 35cm
Wedding at Second Valley 2013 oil on canvas 30 x 30cm
Dorothy Pearl 2011/13 oil on linen 35 x 40cm
The House Where They Laid the Bodies 2017 oil on linen 157 x 117cm
The House With the Cedar Tree 2017 oil on linen 40 x 36cm
Creature # 1, 2017, Bell jar and found objects, including crab pincer. Collection of The University of Adelaide.
Creatire #1, 2017, bell jar and found objects, including crab pincer. Collection of the University of Adelaide
These works look back at the sleepy town of Aldinga, south of Adelaide.
