Artwork by Lorraine Whelan . . .

Sticks, 2017

This is an "accordion" book, such that the full image can be seen if/when the book is fully open. The prints were pulled at home using a converted pasta machine press. The texture on the front cover of the book was created using a bark stamp directly pressed into the clay prior to firing. PVA glue was used to attach paper to the ceramic covers and then to attach the accordion to the covers via that paper.

  • edition of 10
  • ceramic earthenware covers, approximately 14 cm x 14 cm x .25 cm
  • intaglio print on handmade acid-free Indian rag (Khadi) paper, 210 g/m2
  • print image size is approximately 9 cm x 35 cm
  • background folded page acid-free Fabriano Tiziana Crema, 160 g/m2
  • unfolded size approximately 79 cm (including covers)



I was born in Toronto, Canada into a large Irish immigrant family. Shortly after obtaining my primary degree in 1986, I moved to Ireland to where my parents and half my siblings had already returned.

My writing (poetry, art criticism & commentary, fiction, non-fiction) has been published in Ireland, Canada, USA, Luxembourg & online.

I have exhibited my artwork throughout Ireland in both solo and group exhibitions and have exhibited in group exhibitions in France, China and Canada. I have participated in artist residencies and symposia and my work is included in private (US, Canada, Australia, UK & Belgium) and in public/corporate collections (Microsoft WPGI, OPW, HSE, Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Europol & IBM).

For over 30 years I have created bodies of work that are inspired and challenged by my environment and circumstances, which are regularly in flux. The study and analysis of dreams plays a large part in much of my work and the development of dream imagery informs the iconography used in both visual and verbal work.

I have worked on projects in response to a specific brief, site, concept, or combination of these. I am fascinated with the immediacy of temporary work yet equally interested in archives and permanence. While I consider myself primarily a painter, I love to experience and experiment with any manner of media. I freely use any media to suit an idea, which is the paramount consideration.

I believe that it is through the expression of individual responses to life circumstances that wider truths can be discovered and understood.

I am an artist. I am here. I remember. I draw. I write. I tell stories.