North Clare artist, Tina O’Connell, has been turning heads in the art world this year, winning a number of awards and having a piece of sculpture accepted into the permanent collection at the Limerick City Gallery.
Tina, who took up art just 12 years ago, has had a meteoric rise in recent years, first completing FETAC level 5 and 6 courses in Ennistymon before finishing her degree this year at the Limerick School of Art and Design.
Indeed, on the back of some of the sculptures she has completed over the past seven months, Tina currently has an exhibition running in Limerick City Gallery.
The Lisdoonvarna single mother has worked hard for her success, putting in long hours this winter to perfect her craft.
“I focussed on getting my thesis done before Christmas. I really knuckled down and said that, come January, I would get stuck into studio work,” she said
“I ended up carving a lot from home in what was my dad’s workshop. I treated it like a job, I worked from 9am to 5pm and on the weekends as well. I tore into it and produced a lot of work. The reaction was fantastic from the other students and the lecturers.”
The influence of Tina’s family looms large over her work with aspects of her children and herself forming part of some of her sculptures.
Her late father, Micky-Joe O’Connell, has also been a real part of her success this year.
“After finishing my degree, I ended up getting a residence on Inisheer. I was out there for the month of July, which was fantastic. It was really amazing, exactly what I needed,” she said.
“I have a strong connection with Inisheer because my dad was a fisherman and he would have known a few of the islanders. I was talking to Ned from Tigh Ned’s, who still fishes. He told me that he bought my dads curragh off of him back in 1982 and the curragh was still sitting on the beach.
“It had been there all those years and I had never realised. It was dad’s first fishing boat, the first he had built, and it was made of fiberglass. He used it for a number of years and then Ned bought it off of him. It was the first fiberglass boat on the island. It was great to hear stories from all of them.
“My dad passed away ten years ago this year, so it feels quite special that this came around at this time.”
While she started in painting, Tina’s work is now primarily in sculpture. One new mixed media piece, entitled ‘Pause’, forms a very central part of the current exhibition.
“The exhibition is all wood carvings but it includes one new piece called Pause which is mixed media. It is made with steal and paper machete but the hands, feet and head are all carved from wood. It depicts a woman who is sitting on a toilet, and the toilet is made from plaster,” said Tina.
“The piece is a reflection of those times for women during their menstrual cycle where they have the time to reflect on the things that have happened to them over the years, during their menstrual cycle.
“I myself am going through perimenopause so for me it is about looking back at all those times with sadness, joy, disappointment and worry. Even seeing my own girls who are starting out and thinking about what is ahead for them, hoping that they don’t have a hard time and that life might be a bit easier for them.
“Making it visible is so important. It is so natural, it’s the way we are made, but it seems to be difficult to talk about it. A girl should be able to talk about it and, if she has a boyfriend, she should be able to talk to him about it. They need to be able to explain it and boys need to be able to understand it.
“Some girls fly through it and have no issues while others have a hard time. It is important that there is no stigma about it or no shame or embarrassment about talking about it.”
A separate piece entitled ‘Feach Orm’ has been accepted into the permanent collection for the Limerick City Gallery. Tina show will continue at Limerick City Gallery until October 6. For more visit tinaoconnellartist.
Andrew Hamilton is a journalist, investigative reporter and blogger who has been working in the media in Ireland for the past 20 years. His areas of special interest include the environment, mental health and politics.