I Said We Were Sharing (Dúirt Mé Go Raibh Muid Ag Roinnt)
Plate, Resin, Photographs, Paint Markers
2026
10x10x1 in
The plates reference the Great Famine in Ireland. This famine was forced and created under British rule; the Irish people had plenty of food, but the British exported most of the crops, leaving them with a failed potato harvest. The photographs are representative images that capture different elements of the hunger, such as coffin ships, statues of starving people, and an image of me in front of an archival photograph of my great-great-grandparents, who were born towards the tail end of the famine. Layered above the photographs are reference drawings based on historical prints from the Great Hunger period, showing what was happening in Ireland at that time. The red patterns drawn on the edges of the plates reference lace patterns that women would create and sell to help support their families. The color red is chosen because green was not yet associated with Ireland and was considered unlucky, linked to the fae and to death during famine, while red was a more readily available dye. The different layers shed light on the complex history of the Great Hunger, revealing shared and personal connections that previously would not have been intertwined. The plates resting below your line of sight invite you to look more closely, as if you were sitting down and sharing stories around a table.