Fran Woolf
Hiraeth
18 October to 11 December 2018.
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‘Hiraeth is to strive to create work that celebrates the spirit of the people and the places that enabled me and mine to be'. For her residency at Uillinn, Fran will investigate and celebrate the resilience and quiet courage of people who endured much and survived more, using photography, printmaking, poetry, painting and installation to explore the themes. The work will be the basis for a future exhibition of work incorporating sense of place and our place in it.
Fran spent some months researching on the islands of Barra and Skye in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland in 2017, having only recently discovered part of her family originated there in the 16th century, while another strand of family lived in Ireland.
‘The Clearances and the Famine had shared seismic effects on rural communities in both countries in the mid-19th Century. The tragedy of their individual lived experiences resonates through to today. All truly connected to, and part of the land they were often taken from. West Cork has a strong connection to St Finbarr, Cork’s patron saint. Indeed he spent time in Drimoleague, where I live, before founding his monastery at Gougane Barra. He also founded a monastery on Hebridean Barra and the island is named for him. I believe this 1500 year old connection deserves a raised awareness.’
‘I believe that raising awareness of the commonality of experience, shared by marginalised people in rural Ireland and rural Scotland, is useful both in contextualising, celebrating our forebears existence and re-establishing historic links.’
Fran will engage with a number of groups during her residency including Arts for an Active Mind and Drama Club and will present her findings in an open conversation at the end of her residency.
Fran Woolf is a graduate BA in Visual Art Degree Programme, run by Dublin Institute of Technology and based on Sherkin Island. After achieving a Cork Printmakers Open Access Award while studying for her degree, Fran was made a full member of Cork Printmakers in 2016, specialising in collagraph, screenprinting and monoprinting. A residency at the Irish Museum of Modern Art as an art student provided a pivotal opportunity to explore and experiment. Fran was further awarded four residencies at Cill Rialaig, in 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2018. She studied the theory and practice of egg tempera painting at the National Gallery, London in 2016, and studied life drawing at the Royal Academy, London in 2016 / 2017. Fran is a member of the Royal Photographic Society. A residency, during Bealtaine 2017, at Uillinn, West Cork Arts Centre, provided interaction with the public, other artists and art professionals generating new focus and opportunities.
West Cork Arts Centre is proud to be supported by the Arts Council and Cork County Council.
