ART IS LONG, LIFE IS SHORT

Artist Mary Claire Kirwan tells Siobhán Breatnach how nature and a desnirde for greater sustainability inspired an unexpected collaboration

I always had a long-term dream of being a full-time artist, living remotely surrounded by nature but I was very logical and level-headed in my 20s and early 30s,” says Mary Claire Kirwan. That desire became reality with a jolt for the former fashion creative director, when a surfing accident in early 2019 left her joy, peace and way of life in shatters. “I had an accident which completely re-shifted my focus, my ambitions, my desires,” she says. “I had a lot of time to think while not being able to move. It hit me that I was on a commercial hamster wheel. I initially started painting for pain relief but it was the happiest I had felt in years, even though I had no structure, no guaranteed income, no plan at that time,” she adds. “I’m very fortunate my family and my husband were encouraging of this new version of me.”

This life-changing experience and the strength garnered from it, has perhaps guided Kirwan through the pandemic lockdowns. “I think the first lockdown was almost a novelty and I just painted every day, for four months without worry,” she says. “Though I think in hindsight, I was too consumed with the bigger picture of the world, our health, our planet, when I will see my family in Ireland again, to fully shape my art during that time. But it was really interesting and encouraging for everything to slow down - it created a surge in creativity globally.”

As for the digital experience that has become all too familiar in lockdown, she’s not a fan. “The world pre-pandemic was heavily digital but it’s an essential now. I struggle with this, especially for my style and body of work,” she says. Instagram, she adds, is a great tool for business but less so for showcasing her creations. “I have bigger real worlds,” she says. “I want them to live and be enjoyed within and, in some cases, privately. I find privacy, so beautiful and elegant: I can see it becoming a bigger focus in the future.”

“My first solo exhibition, which was cancelled, was to be a celebration of my art, music, food, drink, our senses. Humans in one space … social energy.” While that body of work may not have had its public showcase, it has led to a special collaboration with one of Ireland’s historic woollen mills. United by craftsmanship, sustainability and inspired by nature, Kirwan has teamed up with Cushendale to create an heirloom comfort blanket called Touch.

The striking campaign images were shot by actress India Mullen of Normal People fame. Six generations of the Cushen family have devoted themselves to crafting textiles in the small town of Graiguenamanagh, Co. Kilkenny since the 18th century. Cushendale is now one of only two remaining woollen mills in

Ireland, collecting Irish fleece to dye, spin and weave at their heritage mill.

Working closely with Miriam, the daughter of Philip Cushen, Kirwan has produced 50, limited edition, 100 percent woollen blankets, made from wool from the rare and protected sheep called The Galway. “Cushendale is an amazing woollen mill, not too far from my family home in Wexford. To be creating something traceable from flock to fleece makes me really proud,” Kirwan says. “I have not been able to travel home to see the sheep or the blankets in production, so this has offered me a connection to home through a physical item during a time of isolation.

“My past life in fashion was about consumption and mass commercials,” she adds. “I hold guilt that I have caused damage to our planet from my years within that world, so I want to offer unique, long-lasting items that become family heirlooms, like a piece of traditional art.” Kirwan’s home and studio is a boat on the River Thames in London, though there are plans for a move to Dubai in the autumn.

“It is restrictive in size so if I work on larger bodies of work, I move temporarily to a land-based studio in the Bermondsey area,” she says. “I live on a houseboat within the same moorings as my studio - a small friendly community near Tower Bridge.

“I’m excited to see how a change in my living environment will affect my work and painting style,” she adds. “I hope to learn more about gold and incorporate it within my work in time. I love absorbing trends, colours, interiors, fashion, art, film and I have always been drawn to beautiful things situated in a realist world. My world is very visual. I just adore ‘beauty’ whether it be in nature, people, animals, design, architecture. It is the best inspiration.”

And what of the future? “Hopefully some roaring 20’s and mad parties,” she jokes. “Beyond the parties, I hope for a greater understanding about our time on planet earth, and our impact. “My art is constantly evolving but at the moment I hope it represents joy, hope, positivity and comfort.

Joy to me is living pain-free with a peaceful mind and a healthy body.”