Site Specific work
Dublin Ireland
Gaelscoil Lios na nÓg Fanlight
Commissioned by Lios na nÓg Installed March 2023
A traditional leaded fanlight was installed in Lios na nÓg school in Oakley road Ranelagh, a primary all Irish language school with an ethos of inclusion, and a strong emphasis on the arts.
This listed building has a long and important history in the evolution of the Irish State and the preservation of the Irish language. I was honoured to be given this commission in a generous gesture of the outgoing principal Áine Mac an tSíthigh, who asked for this window to be designed and installed as a parting gift after her 20+ years of service to the school. Áine was the founding principal and guiding light of this nurturing environment.
The ethos of Pádraig Pearce is carried through to this day : ‘the main objective in education is to help the child to be his own true and best self.’
Pádraig Pearse opened this school in 1908 and named it Scoil Éanna in honour of St. Enda, the patron saint of the Aran Islands famed for his teaching. The school was located in Cullenswood House, Oakley Road, between the Dublin suburbs of Ranelagh and Rathmines. It was an attractive Georgian house and had previously been the home of the 19th century historian, W.E.H. Lecky.
Site Specific work
Dublin Ireland
Melted heads
Commissioned by The Ark, Children's Cultural center
Melted Heads are a series of pieces made for a special exhibition called Rock Paper Scissors for the Ark Dublin, curated by Dr Lucy Hill.
Rock, Paper, Scissors is all about playing, experimenting and creating with different materials.
Melted heads are blown coloured glass, which have been mirrored to create distorted reflections . They are hung at different head heights in the gallery space. The pieces are part of the permanent collection of The Ark funded by the Arts council & Dublin City Council
Headford Galway
Lace Matrix
Commissioned by the Headford Lace Project
A new lace sculpture celebrating the revival of lacemaking in Headford was installed in St George’s Square, Headford beginning on Friday November 12h 2022
Commissioned by Headford Lace Project (HLP) ‘Lace Matrix’ by Róisín de Buitléar is funded by Galway 2020, European Capital of Culture.
Using 2 km of cord, the sculpture was strung by members of the community and the artist. Like the young Headford lacemakers of the 1840’s the giant lace piece was made using bobbin lace techniques, a series of knots and weaving threads that create patterns. It took 10 days to complete using a platform to allow access to the 2m high frame and was the first ever project of its kind or scale in Ireland.
The sculpture is designed to be interactive, community led and impactful on the town and its identity. The artwork is composed of 2 symmetrical forms, which together create a large heart shape into which a lace pattern is strung. The heart shape is derived from a lace sample made by the local lacemaking community, based on the first uncovered lace sample attributed to
Headford’s lost lace history.
The sculpture draws on the tradition of farming related metalwork in the area. The loops of metal surrounding the frame, echo picot edging found on the border of lace, and will be used to hold the complicated lace patterns. On Friday the lacemakers will begin to make a matrix of flowers, diamonds, and a honeycomb pattern, known as torchon ground.
Róisín was enthusiastic to use a local fabricator to collaborate on making the frame. Drawing on ideas from vernacular farm ironmongery she worked with local blacksmiths Pat Monaghan and Simon Harte from the Forge Metalworks to create the framework
galway city museum
SNÁTH MARA - MONUMENT
Commissioned by the Office of Public Works
'Snáth Mara' The installation is constructed of large buoy shaped beads suspended in space by tensile wires in diamond patterns, reflecting the knitting pattern of the famous Aran style. Each buoy holds a narrative within its colour and pattern, inspired by vernacular craft practices in the area that tied objects to place, giving context to patterns, colour and form. The work embraces Galway's association with the sea. Fishing nets, knitting and basketry have all been sources of research for this work.
All of these craft practices require small elements to be interwoven to create a larger more substantial functional object whose use brought prosperity and a livelihood to the people of Galway. An interlacing pattern of survival and trade between Islands.
This is a section of a larger work commissioned by the OPW in 2007
Snáth Mara - Sea Thread or Wake of a Boat
MONUMENT is presented by Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture and Galway City Museum as part of the cultural programme. With a primary focus on the stone forts of Aran, and on Dún Aonghasa in particular, this innovative exhibition investigates some of Europe's most impressive stone monuments located on some of Europe's smallest islands.
MONUMENT is a multidisciplinary exhibition platform. It represents a collaborative process that brings together agencies, institutions and individuals representing the archaeology, architecture, craft and design, cultural landscapes, tangible and intangible heritage, construction, sustainability and the social history associated with the monuments and the islands.
Curated by Eithne Verling, Director of the Galway City Museum and Sybil Curley, the project has been inspired by the three themes of the Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture programme - Landscape, Language and Migration.
royal academy Dublin Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann
Dublin
Tres autem sunt modi vocationum” (attributed to Colm Cille)
As part of its multi-faceted commemoration of the 1500th anniversary of Colm Cille’s birth, the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) has commissioned seven new artworks. The commissions are in the visual arts, music and literature and have been commissioned by the RIA with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, Mr Simon Coveney, T.D., commented: ‘Colm Cille, or Columba’s, legacy is a foundational bond in the Irish-Scottish relationship. These commissions, on the occasion of his 1500th anniversary, will create contemporary reflections on his significant international legacy which continues in diverse fields, whether artistic, linguistic, ecclesiastical or legal, as well as those of our shared communities.’
Trí mhodh éagsúla chun daoine a thabhairt chun creidimh’.
Tá seacht saothar nua ealaíne coimisiúnaithe ag Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann, le tacaíocht ón Roinn Gnóthaí Eachtracha. Tá na coimisiúin seo sna hamharc-ealaíona, sa cheol agus sa litríocht. Is cuid iad den chlár comórtha ilghnéitheach atá á eagrú ag an Acadamh chun ceiliúradh a dhéanamh ar bhliain mhór chuimhneacháin Cholm Cille, a rugadh 1500 bliain ó shin i nGartán, i dTír Chonaill.
Ba cheannródaí suntasach é Colm Cille (c.521-597), a raibh tionchar as cuimse aige ar Éirinn agus ar Albain sa séú haois. Aithnítear gurbh é a leath an Chríostaíocht sa tír ar a dtugtar Albain sa lá atá inniu ann. Bhunaigh sé mainistir thar a bheith tábhachtach ar Oileán Í, ar lárionad ceannasach i gcúrsaí reiligiúin, cultúir agus polaitíochta sa réigiún í ar feadh na gcéadta bliain. Ba bhall de ríshliocht ceannais na linne é agus áirítear é mar dhuine de thriúr naomhphátrún Éireann.
Eaton Sq Dublin
Crossings
Private commission
Living in the city during the pandemic of Covid 19 brought unforeseen challenges to life. Being confined to firstly 2km and then 5km distance from ones home for many months created a stronger appreciation for our immediate environment and the presence of nature within it. At the same time it made us conscious of the greater world outside we were missing and all of the activities which were on hold. The imagery can be interpreted as a landscape, or a series of boundaries to overcome or paths that intersect. Crossings looks to express the hurdles that came in sequential waves, and the goals that were made while living through the Covid 19 pandemic.
Chinks of light, create strong beams of colour flooding into the hallway, crossing pathways through the home. The monochrome palette of painted handmade glass creates other more subtle shadows in the light and nuances of the painted surface in shades of grey pigment suggest; weather, mood and textures. During the pandemic, glimmers of light lead us through the constant changes of rythmn and suspension of life as we had known it. This play of light and material continues to capture some of that sentiment in this window.
The window is made from handmade mouth blown glass. Each section is hand painted with pigments that were fired in a kiln before being and leaded in a traditional style.
The Ark Children's Cultural centre
a Green edge project
Greening of the Ark building during the Children's festival 'Crinniú nÓg', included designing and building a new garden and connecting the existing roof top garden with the ground floor garden visually.
The Rainbow made from multiple fibre cords, connected the building from top to bottom as well as signalling the centre's ethos of inclusivity. The rainbow idea came from one of the children participating in preparatory workshops on Greening the Ark during the birds in the city project.
Gaelscoil Lios na nÓg Ranelagh Dublin 6.
In commemoration of 20th anniversary of the founding of Lios na nÓg school Oakley Road in Ranelagh the school board commissioned Róisín to design and make a glass window for the new wing of the school building.
Established in Cullenswood House which was the site of the first Irish language school Scoil Éanna, established by Pádraig Pearse, the board requested that the artist consider the context, history and celebration of this historic site. Róisín collaborated with the children of the school in workshops developing ideas and content for the work as part of the 1916 celebrations and in collaboration with the Design and Crafts Council CraftEd project.
