Gallery
Please find here the approved applications to the Social Art Award 2021 – New Greening. The open call was closed on 1 May.
The next Open Call for the Social Art Ward will be opened in 2023.
12
Winter Fen Cill Rialaig
247
Title:
Winter Fen Cill Rialaig
Winter Fen Cill Rialaig
Author:
Kathrine Geoghegan
Kathrine Geoghegan
Description:
120X90cm Acrylic on aluminium This painting is part of my current project exploring bogs and fens. I spent some time at an artist's residency in County Kerry on the south coast of Ireland in December 2020, and had the opportunity to explore fens in their winter state. The painting describes the skeletal beauty of these dormant plants in sharp focus against the December sun. In Ireland we are very fortunate to have 1,200,000 hectares of bogland, one of the highest in Europe. Closely related to fens, bogs have been plundered in the past, drained and cut for fuel. This destruction has been state-sponsored, with Bord na Mona harvesting peat from the bogs on a vast scale. Thankfully we are now more enlightened, and have realised the importance of bogs as a habitat for wildlife, and as a carbon sink in the fight against climate change. Bord na Mona have now undertaken to use the bogs for sustainable purposes, and peat harvesting is being phased out. Gradually bogs will be re-flooded in an effort to restore them over time. However, progress is slow, and the voices of those who want to renew these habitats need to be heard. Bogs and fens need to be designated as areas of special conservation, and although this has been promised by the Irish government, it is largely not implemented. Fens are valuable waterway habitats also, differing from bogs as they are fed by freshwater springs, and can host a greater variety of plants. Where I stayed in Kerry, the fresh spring water flowed down Bolus Head feeding the land along the cliffs, where purple loosesrife, rushes and reeds grow in abundance. Even in the depths of winter, this landscape has a desolate beauty.
120X90cm Acrylic on aluminium This painting is part of my current project exploring bogs and fens. I spent some time at an artist's residency in County Kerry on the south coast of Ireland in December 2020, and had the opportunity to explore fens in their winter state. The painting describes the skeletal beauty of these dormant plants in sharp focus against the December sun. In Ireland we are very fortunate to have 1,200,000 hectares of bogland, one of the highest in Europe. Closely related to fens, bogs have been plundered in the past, drained and cut for fuel. This destruction has been state-sponsored, with Bord na Mona harvesting peat from the bogs on a vast scale. Thankfully we are now more enlightened, and have realised the importance of bogs as a habitat for wildlife, and as a carbon sink in the fight against climate change. Bord na Mona have now undertaken to use the bogs for sustainable purposes, and peat harvesting is being phased out. Gradually bogs will be re-flooded in an effort to restore them over time. However, progress is slow, and the voices of those who want to renew these habitats need to be heard. Bogs and fens need to be designated as areas of special conservation, and although this has been promised by the Irish government, it is largely not implemented. Fens are valuable waterway habitats also, differing from bogs as they are fed by freshwater springs, and can host a greater variety of plants. Where I stayed in Kerry, the fresh spring water flowed down Bolus Head feeding the land along the cliffs, where purple loosesrife, rushes and reeds grow in abundance. Even in the depths of winter, this landscape has a desolate beauty.
Description:
120X90cm Acrylic on aluminium This painting is part of my current project exploring bogs and fens. I spent some time at an artist's residency in County Kerry on the south coast of Ireland in December 2020, and had the opportunity to explore fens in their winter state. The painting describes the skeletal beauty of these dormant plants in sharp focus against the December sun. In Ireland we are very fortunate to have 1,200,000 hectares of bogland, one of the highest in Europe. Closely related to fens, bogs have been plundered in the past, drained and cut for fuel. This destruction has been state-sponsored, with Bord na Mona harvesting peat from the bogs on a vast scale. Thankfully we are now more enlightened, and have realised the importance of bogs as a habitat for wildlife, and as a carbon sink in the fight against climate change. Bord na Mona have now undertaken to use the bogs for sustainable purposes, and peat harvesting is being phased out. Gradually bogs will be re-flooded in an effort to restore them over time. However, progress is slow, and the voices of those who want to renew these habitats need to be heard. Bogs and fens need to be designated as areas of special conservation, and although this has been promised by the Irish government, it is largely not implemented. Fens are valuable waterway habitats also, differing from bogs as they are fed by freshwater springs, and can host a greater variety of plants. Where I stayed in Kerry, the fresh spring water flowed down Bolus Head feeding the land along the cliffs, where purple loosesrife, rushes and reeds grow in abundance. Even in the depths of winter, this landscape has a desolate beauty.
120X90cm Acrylic on aluminium This painting is part of my current project exploring bogs and fens. I spent some time at an artist's residency in County Kerry on the south coast of Ireland in December 2020, and had the opportunity to explore fens in their winter state. The painting describes the skeletal beauty of these dormant plants in sharp focus against the December sun. In Ireland we are very fortunate to have 1,200,000 hectares of bogland, one of the highest in Europe. Closely related to fens, bogs have been plundered in the past, drained and cut for fuel. This destruction has been state-sponsored, with Bord na Mona harvesting peat from the bogs on a vast scale. Thankfully we are now more enlightened, and have realised the importance of bogs as a habitat for wildlife, and as a carbon sink in the fight against climate change. Bord na Mona have now undertaken to use the bogs for sustainable purposes, and peat harvesting is being phased out. Gradually bogs will be re-flooded in an effort to restore them over time. However, progress is slow, and the voices of those who want to renew these habitats need to be heard. Bogs and fens need to be designated as areas of special conservation, and although this has been promised by the Irish government, it is largely not implemented. Fens are valuable waterway habitats also, differing from bogs as they are fed by freshwater springs, and can host a greater variety of plants. Where I stayed in Kerry, the fresh spring water flowed down Bolus Head feeding the land along the cliffs, where purple loosesrife, rushes and reeds grow in abundance. Even in the depths of winter, this landscape has a desolate beauty.