Artist Bio
Saorla Ní Chearúllain’s work is influenced by the rural Irish landscape. Saorla has created a range of slab-built sculptures with the addition of small derelict houses entitled ‘Echoes’. These are inspired by Glentornan, a ruined ghost village in County Donegal. In creating this site-specific series, she collated information from maps, photography, aerial images, historical records, and her own primary research at the site of the village. Her aim for this body of work is to celebrate our rich built heritage. Using imprints of stones and other organic materials from the site itself, she has established a connection between the village and the pieces. This incorporation of authentic material was an integral part of her making process, as it enabled her to share her own experience of the place through her embodied work.
By focusing on this vernacular architecture, Saorla hopes her work casts shadows, inviting the onlooker to reminiscence about what once was. The contemporary designs were developed ensuring that the distinctive characteristics of the village itself was represented through traces of texture and form.
