Artists’ Voices: Life in a Pandemic | National Gallery of Ireland

ESB CSIA Oral Histories
https://www.nationalgallery.ie/what-we-do/library-and-archives/esb-centre-study-irish-art/artists-voices-life-pandemic

EPISODE 1 | Nick Miller in conversation from his studio in County Sligo
Born in London, Miller moved to Ireland in 1984 and now lives and works in Sligo. He is a painter who works in the genres of portraiture, still life and landscape. Focusing primarily on local subjects, including the rural landscape of north-west Ireland, he has developed a vigorous painting technique that merges representation and expressionism. He was the winner of the National Gallery of Ireland’s inaugural portrait prize in 2014.
In this episode, Miller discusses his work, including From Cogan’s Shed, and talks about aspects of his life during the COVID-19 emergency.
This conversation was recorded on 8 May 2020.

Listen on Soundcloud, below:
https://soundcloud.com/ngireland/artists-voices-life-in-a-pandemic-nick-miller

Artists’ Voices: Life in a Pandemic

ESB CSIA Oral Histories
Oral histories are a unique record of an individual’s personal thoughts and experiences. They are a valuable source of knowledge for researchers, providing insight and connection to a person’s life and character.
The ESB Centre for the Study of Irish Art builds, cares for and makes available the national record of art in Ireland for public study and interpretation. Oral histories are a type of archival record and form an interesting part of the ESB CSIA’s collection. The ESB CSIA plans to develop and expand this part of its collection in the coming years; to represent different perspectives of Irish art and the people who shape it.
Oral histories can be an important element of ‘rapid response collecting’, representing and capturing aspects of current and emerging stories as they unfold. In recognizing the significant impact of COVID-19, the ESB CSIA is carrying out a series of short conversations with artists to document some of their experiences and thoughts of living and working through the pandemic.
These conversations, led by Donal Maguire, Curator of the ESB CSIA, were recorded using technology that is conveniently available to the artist. The use of commonplace technologies for this project reflects the more general and increasing significance of these platforms for everyday communication.
The ESB CSIA acknowledges the generosity of the artists for agreeing to talk about their life and work during this uncertain time.
This oral history project has been generously supported by ESB, sponsor of the ESB Centre for the Study of Irish Art
Born in London, Miller moved to Ireland in 1984 and now lives and works in Sligo. He is a painter who works in the genres of portraiture, still life and landscape. Focusing primarily on local subjects, including the rural landscape of north-west Ireland, he has developed a vigorous painting technique that merges representation and expressionism. He was the winner of the National Gallery of Ireland’s inaugural portrait prize in 2014.
In this episode, Miller discusses his work, including From Cogan’s Shed, and talks about aspects of his life during the COVID-19 emergency.
This conversation was recorded on 8 May 2020.
Listen on Soundcloud, below:

Amelia Stein in conversation from County Mayo
Born in Dublin, Amelia Stein lives and works between Dublin City and the Erris region of north-west Mayo. She is a photographer who began her career in theatre and music photography, while moving steadily towards establishing an art practice. Over the past two decades she has focused primarily on portraiture and landscape subjects. Tending to work in series, her collections include portraits of artists, and aspects of the landscape and coastline of north Mayo.
In this episode, Stein discusses her approach to photographing the landscape and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on her practice. 
This conversation was recorded on 1 May 2020.
Kathy Prendergast in conversation from her home in London City
Born in Dublin, Kathy Prendergast lives and works in London. Over the past four decades she has developed a sophisticated and critically acclaimed art practice. She works with a diverse range of media across various disciplines, including installation art, sculpture, drawing, photography and video. In 1995, she represented Ireland at the 46th Venice Biennale. In 2019, a work from her ongoing series of ‘black maps’ was exhibited at the National Gallery of Ireland.
In this episode, Prendergast talks about her life in London during the COVID-19 pandemic and aspects of her ongoing work.
This conversation was recorded on 24 April 2020.
Dorothy Cross in conversation from her home in Connemara, County Galway
Born in Cork, Dorothy Cross lives and works in Connemara, Co. Galway. Over the past forty years she has developed a critically acclaimed, multidisciplinary art practice that combines elements of sculpture, installation, photography, video and drawing. Her works incorporate a variety of manufactured and natural materials and objects. Some of these are gathered from the land and coastline near her studio, and include various animal remains and fragments that have been washed ashore. By combining and juxtaposing disparate objects, of diverse symbolic and cultural meanings, Cross’s works explore different relationships between living beings and the natural world.
In this episode, Cross discusses her life in Connemara and her works Ghost Ship (1999), Shark Heart Submarine (2011), and Heartship (2019).
This conversation was recorded on 15 May 2020.
Mairead O’hEocha in conversation from her studio in Dublin City
Born in Dublin, Mairead O’hEocha lives and works in Dublin’s city centre. She is a painter who works primarily in oil while also producing a small number of watercolours and, more recently, drawings in ink on paper. She tends to work in series, focusing often on sets of seemingly unremarkable and disparate subjects that allow her to explore elements of form, colour, gesture and composition, while reflecting on deeper aspects of human nature. O’hEocha has developed a highly regarded practice both nationally and internationally. In 2019, her work was exhibited at the National Gallery of Ireland in the exhibition Shaping Ireland: Landscapes in Irish Art.
In this episode, O’hEocha discusses her current work and painting during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This conversation was recorded on 22 May 2020.
Ruth Lyons in conversation from her studio in County Offaly
Born in Dublin, Ruth Lyons lives and works in County Offaly. She is a sculptor who works with a variety of natural and human-made materials, such as granite, rock salt, bogland materials, glass, and plastic. She is particularly interested in the concept of deep time and the geological history of Earth and how human activities interact with the long and perpetual evolution of the natural world. In 2019, works from her ongoing project Salarium were acquired by the National Gallery of Ireland, following their inclusion in the exhibition Shaping Ireland: Landscapes in Irish Art.
In this episode, Lyons discusses the development of Salarium, and other projects she has continued through the COVID-19 pandemic.
This conversation was recorded on 19 June 2020.

EPISODE 1 | Nick Miller in conversation from his studio in County Sligo

EPISODE 2 | COMING 8 OCTOBER

EPISODE 3 | COMING 22 OCTOBER

EPISODE 4 | COMING 5 NOVEMBER

EPISODE 5 | COMING 19 NOVEMBER

EPISODE 6 | COMING 3 DECEMBER