Having had access to so many beautiful natural places these past few years as part of my professional art practice, lockdown was very challenging for me creatively. I became quite obsessed with the Skellig Islands, which I first experienced seeing in 2018 as part of an artist residency at Cill Rialaig artist retreat Ballinskelligs. They started to represent resilience, isolation and the larger things outside of ourselves, and how perhaps we all feel some bit like islands at the moment, weathering the tumults of the sea that is immense. My work relates to the sublime, and how nature can be a means for us to recalibrate our horizons, both literally and metaphorically. These 2 pieces, painted with many washes of ink, a medium in of itself unpredictable and fickle, is my attempt to capture the many feelings I experienced during lockdowns, and the yearnings for wild places and adventure.

Holly Walsh (Lecturer - MTU Crawford - Life drawing)

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