Artwork by Lorraine Whelan . . .

Memory Is My Homeland

In a time of huge worldwide crises in homelessness caused by civil unrest, war, and economic disaster, the concept of "home" is poignant. From a medical point of view, an ageing population and the proliferation of heartbreaking diseases, such as Alzheimer's, makes one acutely aware of the tenuousness of memory.

Further images from this body of work can be seen on the Memory Is My Homeland painting and drawing page.

Image Details

  • Knockeen, 2019, carborundum, image size: 14 cm x 20.5 cm, paper size: 24 cm x 28.5 cm
  • edition & unique silk fibre sheet prints drying (Prom Rail), 2020, linoprints
  • Clothes Peg, 2020, linoprint on handmade silk fibre sheet, image size: 6.2 cm x 7.5 cm, sheet size: approx 21 cm x 27 cm
  • Field Gate, Knockeen, 2020, linoprint on handmade silk fibre sheet, image size: 6.2 cm x 7.5 cm, sheet size: approx 20 cm x 26 cm
  • Spilt Tea, 2020, linoprint on handmade silk fibre sheet, image size: 6.2 cm x 7.5 cm, sheet size: approx 21 cm x 26 cm
  • Red Wellies, 2020, monoprint on handmade silk fibre sheet, image size: 9 cm x 13 cm, sheet size: approx 24 cm x 24 cm


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.