Pauline Kiernan has created a body of work inspired by Jane Clarke’s evocative imagery in “The Rod”.
He's waiting for you,
the cardiac nurse hands me
a basin of water, washcloth, towel.
The Rod, Jane Clarke
The seven pieces in this collection explore the delicate balance of life and death, highlighting the simple yet profound gestures that define our humanity. In ‘Weight of Time‘, Pauline captures the quintessential gesture of security in childhood – being able to slip a tiny hand into the big, warm and reassuring grasp of a father figure. The piece was screen printed and the background image densely machine embroidered to bring the figures in the foreground to life. Pauline is an expert with free machine embroidery and employs it with ease to make dense backgrounds or delicate line drawings.
A similar motif is repeated in ‘Final Moments‘ a triptych of screen printed and patched textiles, overworked with machine embroidery and kantha style hand stitching. A stitched image of Pauline’s father wearing jacket and tie recalls his once strong frame whilst the text hints at a different story. In the quiet stillness of a Sunday morning, Pauline found herself doing something she never expected, shaving her father’s face. His illness had left him frail and his skin had become delicate and paper thin. For her this simple act wasn’t just an act of care; it was a ritual of love, full of tenderness, each movement careful and deliberate, almost sacred.
Pauline has always been drawn to themes of family, memory and place in her work as a textile artist. Cloth is particularly suitable for creating artworks that have deep connections to our personal histories and it becomes even more relevant when the fabric we use has been part of our family story. In ‘Fragments‘ Pauline used pieces of vintage clothing as the substrate on which to stitch images of her father, his glasses and the shaving ritual. In the exhibition these cloth fragments hang on specimen pins casting shadows on the surrounding space and seemingly poised to fall away at any time.
Pauline’s final piece in this collection “Fragments II” further develops the child/parent motif in a beautifully crafted man’s shirt and child’s dress. The organdie fabric has been screen printed, white on white, with personal motifs barely visible on the garments, which recall her father’s life and his illness. The two pieces are hung free from the wall, connected but floating apart.
Perhaps because textile as an art medium has often been disregarded by the art world, women have, for centuries, quietly used cloth and stitch as a vehicle for expressing political resistance, calls to action as well as recording personal stories, moments of trauma and everyday life. Pauline runs workshops in her studio where she aims to create a space for people to connect with their own experiences and memories and translate them onto fabric. Pauline says, “In the end, this isn’t just about creating a piece of art, it’s about capturing those simple powerful moments of connection that remind us of what it means to care for each other. This is what I want my art to represent.”
Thank you to Pauline for sharing her work, to Jane Clarke for her collaboration and to her publisher, Bloodaxe Books, for permission to use her poems. Thanks also to the OPW for the opportunity to exhibit and Kildare County Council for funding through the Arts Act Grant. To see these works up close and personal, visit the exhibition ROOTS, a dialogue in textile and poetry, in the Coach House Gallery, Dublin Castle. Open 7 days a week, 10 am – 5 pm, closed for lunch 1.15 – 1.45 pm. Some of Jane’s books are now available in the gift shop in Chester Beatty Library next to the Coach House.