Deirdre O’Mahony

Deirdre O’Mahony presented Erratics (1995-1996) a series of paintings which were produced by tracing the shadows of boulders on Mullaghmore Mountain in the Burren National Park. The work coincided with the locally-divisive and controversial plan to build an interpretive centre near Mullaghmore in the 90’s. The installation stood as a testament to the lasting effects of the local conflict, while reflecting on broader themes of belonging, identification, and political authority.

Deirdre O’Mahony’s participation formed part of Little did they know, the Guest Programme of the 39th EVA International, curated by Merve Elveren.

Biography 

Deirdre O’Mahony is an artist interested in the politics of landscape, rural sustainability, food security, and rural/urban relationships. O’Mahony lives and works in Kilkenny, Ireland. For over two decades she has investigated the political ecology of rural places through public engagement, exhibitions, critical writing, and cultural production.

Projects include X-PO, a former rural post-office revived as a social space, SPUD (2009–2019), a project, publication, and film designed to create space for public discourse on food security, seed sovereignty, and tacit knowledge and CERERE, a Horizon 2020 project for Teagasc Agricultural centre. O’Mahony recently completed Forest Culture for A Space for Lismore at Lismore Castle Arts, and a new commission, POST_ for Saolta Arts, Galway University Hospital and Galway 2020. Selected residencies include the Irish Cultural Centre, Paris, (2020); Irish Museum of Modern Art (2016–18); and the Museum of English Rural Life (2017). O’Mahony received the 2018 Irish American Cultural Institute Ernie O’Malley Award and has been awarded numerous Arts Council bursaries, awards, and a Pollock-Krasner International Fellowship.