Shelter ll, oil on canvas , 153cm x 153cm €3900
Skellig Michael is an Island off the coast of Kerry that is home to a monastery abandoned in the 12th century. In 2012 I was awarded a very rare residency on the island. The Office of Public Works organised that I would stay in an archaeologists hut for the duration.
The hermitage was built during the 6th century. 180m above sea level, a climb of 618 stone steps.
These series of paintings evoke the atmosphere felt at the summit amongst these ancient structures. The paintings reflect the timelessness one feels sitting alone and imagining the distance between the present and its imagined exesistance.
The works also consider the structural incursion on the hostile landscape and how the climate permiates every stone and blade of grass.
My collaboration with Liss Ard began a few years ago when I was asked to hang my large works, based on my residency on Skellig Michael, throughout the hotel. It gives me an opportunity to share larger canvases that otherwise could only be seen during a studio visit.
