Sparking Thoughts

Clodagh Boyce speaks with Artists Mary Burke and Róisín White about their exhibitions in dlr LexIcon, Dún Laoghaire, on show till January 19 2025.

Moments of Domesticity is a series of paintings of homes in the County. Mary embarked on a series of house visits that took her to Dundrum, Leopardstown, Dún Laoghaire, Dalkey, Ballybrack, Monkstown, Deansgrange and Ballycorus. She spent the following year painting these homes in her studio at the dlr Baths Artist Studios. 

Safe Harbour is an exhibition of work in progress. It explores our relationship with the sea as a place of leisure and play and the sea’s power, strength and unpredictable nature. Róisín creates sculptural forms and imagery that engage with our experiences and memories of Dún Laoghaire Bay. 

Clodagh Boyce is a Trini-Irish sculptor and curator whose work explores ideas of memory, race, nationhood and legacy. Drawing inspiration from their background in community organising and queer photography in NYC, Clodagh’s art focuses on collective resistance and the reclamation of identity and home. 

Mary Burke is a painter who graduated with BA degree in Fine Art from NCAD in 1982. She also has MA degrees in Anthropology and Digital Media Technologies

She has exhibited extensively, and she has undertaken residencies at the Leighton Artists Colony at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada and at the Vermont Studio Center, USA. She has received several awards including three bursaries from the Arts Council of Ireland, a United States Information Agency Fellowship, a bursary from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation (Montreal), and a Golden Fleece Merit Award from the Lillias Mitchell Trust. Her work is included in many public and corporate collections including The Arts Council, AIB International Financial Services Centre, Eircom, Dublin Airport Authority, Aer Motive Ireland, South Dublin County Council, Fingal County Council, Laois County Council and the Office of Public Works. Her last solo exhibition At Home on the Farm was exhibited at the Limerick City Gallery of Art in 2021. 

Róisín White is a visual artist and arts facilitator based in Ireland. She primarily works with photography, with diverse interests in mixed media sculpture. Her work often stems from found and archival materials, with an interest in storytelling, both historical and imagined.

Róisín has worked with children and young people within her visual arts practice for over 10 years, working both collaboratively, and in a facilitation role. She is inspired by the sense of play and curiosity that young people show while making art, and strives to create an environment that gives young people the space and confidence to try things out and be led by their own interests. Recent youth engagement projects have included working with Photo Museum Ireland, PhotoIreland, The Ark Children’s Cultural Centre, Cow House Studios, and Landskrona Foto in Sweden.

She has exhibited her work extensively across Ireland and Europe, with solo exhibitions in The Library Project and Pallas Projects. Her photobook "Lay Her Down Upon Her Back" was published by Landskrona Breadfield (Sweden) and Witty Books (Italy) in 2023 and was nominated for the Prix Du Livre D’auteur at Rencontres Arles Photo Festival and Photobook of the Year at Photo Espana in 2024.

Her work in Ireland has kindly been supported by The Arts Council, the Dublin City Arts Office, and the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. She is currently the artist in residence at The Baths Studios in Dún Laoghaire from 2023 – 2025.