Irish Woodworker

"These pieces are made using age old techniques, carved by hand with gouges, chisels and patience. Much of my work aims to reimagine the vernacular of Irish furniture and objects; to conceive of what our material culture would be if we were not occupied for hundreds of years. Colonisation has homogenised much of the world of design, meaning much of the peculiar and wonderful is lost in the cultural soup.

One only has to look at the Arran Islands, and the garb of the women there at Europe’s most westerly point, to recognise that Ireland was a unique place with unique customs, language and material culture.

There was a time when our understanding of our land was imbued into each of life’s daily practices. Our language spoke to this comprehension in ways which — by comparison with English — leaves us culturally impoverished. That departure from being connected to the land, to nature, to the ancient ways is something which attracts me. It poses a “what if?” question, which serves as a great launching point for my work."