Greag Mac a' tSaoir
Ealaíontóir – Artist
Innocence + Loss
Many cultures have death rituals which involve an attempt at preservation and memorialisation. The ancient Egyptians are the culture we associate most with this, with their mummies and pyramids. We think the ancient people who lived before history in Ireland may have disinterred bones of people who had a particular meaning from them and that they carried these bones with them. We have grave markers and memorial cards. Finality is difficult. It’s human to want to hang on to the memory but it’s also impossible. We’re flawed, imperfect creatures and time and grief have us in their grasp.
In continuing to work with lead and wax I’m trying to harness a range of materials that allow me to speak of innocence and loss. The flowers in this work are also dipped in wax, freezing them in time but concurrently transforming them into a grotesque, barely recognisable, travesty of their original beauty. We try to hang on. We try to make it all perfect. We can’t.
Greag Mac a' tSaoir 