poet jane clarke Archives

It is not common for the First World War to provide inspiration for poetry or, indeed textile art, as one would struggle to find much beauty in the subject matter. In 2017, Jane Clarke was invited to write a sequence of poems in response to the Auerbach family archive which consisted of family photos, documents and letters giving a unique insight into how the war affected the members the family. From this trove Jane was moved to produce 21 poems, one of which, ‘Ling‘ in turn inspired artist Marie Dunne to make ‘The Message’, a large, striking hanging. It turns out that the personal experiences and written words of those involved and impacted by war can provide inspiration and some beauty.

A sprig of heather falling
from his sister's letter
carries him home
to the slopes of Slieve Donard -
a sea of honey-scented ling,
purple flowers teeming with bees.

Ling, Jane Clarke

It was initially the descriptions of nature, the heather growing low on mountain tops, that drew Marie to the poem. It describes the correspondence between brother and sister, Albert and Lucy Auerbach, and the reminder of home in the form of a sprig of heather that Lucy included in one of the last letters Albert received on the front line. Albert joined up on the first day of the war and died two months before it ended.

For Marie, ideas of resilience in the face of adversity and the strength of the siblings relationship were central in her creative thinking. A circular shape to represent the cycle of life, a simplified motif for a heather flower and even the purple heart medal all came to mind in her planning – her love of the colour purple was an undeniable influence also. The base fabric for this large hanging is Lutradur which was painted and burnt in places to create holes. The heather flower motifs were made using tulle and free machine embroidery.

‘New Beginning’ is Marie’s second piece in the exhibition, based on the poem ‘The Key‘. Jane’s poem about moving into a new home with her partner, reminded Marie of the first days in her family home as a child and the symbolism of ‘getting the key’. The joy of having a secure tenancy, a garden to be tilled and planted by her father, a West of Ireland man well used to working the soil. The novelty of having a stair that she and her siblings could run up and down, lingering to play on the big step on the turn.

Repurposing previous artworks, Marie created her third work, ‘June‘ in response to the poem of the same name. She reimagined, reworked, cut, shaped and stitched what was a flat collage made of lutradur, into a sculpture of leaves using stitch and wire. It represents new beginnings and an abundance, that time of year when everything is blossoming and scent fills the air “to the sultry-scented brim“. The month of June has significance for both the poet and the artist, as it is the birth month of people they love.

This piece has been sold and will make its way to its forever home when the exhibition ends in January.

Thank you to Marie for sharing the background to her work. Thanks 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. The Coach House will close from lunchtime Christmas Eve and reopen on 28th December.

Some of Jane’s books are now available in the gift shop in Chester Beatty Library next to the Coach House Gallery.

Colleen has created three pieces for the ROOTS exhibition, two are 3D installations and one is a wall based work. Working on these was a very emotional experience for her, triggering all sorts of memory and reflection.

‘Holding the Moment’ is an installation made with card, paper and stitched embellishment, the idea for which began to grow as Colleen absorbed the imagery in the poem ‘The Finest Specimen‘. She loved the intimate moments of family and neighbourhood history held in old letters ‘bound together with knotted string‘ as recalled in the poem. One powerful image is about how the poet’s father was ‘lonely for the fields‘ on his honeymoon. There are echoes of this in Colleen’s family as her father came from a small farm in Cavan. As the eldest son, he gave up his entitlement to the land in order to live a very different life – but he always had the Farmer’s Journal in the family home throughout his life.

Colleen’s own home holds treasured mementoes of her life over the last 35 years, including cards sent by family and friends, postcards of works by favourite artists, cards from far flung places that she has visited. In developing her piece, Colleen has used some of these with the addition of stitched embellishments – an essential element in connecting. The installation consists of nine wrapped bundles, the layers underneath as important as the visible page. The collaged pages were the most difficult and rewarding to work on, being pieces of an old address book she has had for 40 years. An everyday thing – but for Colleen it is a profound link to past phases of her life; in London, Bristol and Australia. Stitched cords echo the ‘knotted string’ from the poem and symbolise a holding and minding of memory and the people whose details have been recorded in that address book.

‘Refuge’, a wall based piece, is in response to Jane Clarke’s poem ‘Harness Room‘. The ‘room under the loft‘ is an unremarkable space replicated in countless rural dwellings around the country. Colleen read the poem as a love letter to that space, and to the peace that Jane Clarke’s father found there. The poet allows herself to be immersed in the room, exploring why she feels such affection for it, with its ‘slab stone floor, softened by layers of dirt and dust’. Jane’s use of words, turning lists of mundane objects into things of real beauty, the ‘love for the naming of things‘ showing that powerful connection.

‘Refuge’ pays homage to the beauty and power in unremarkable spaces that are so often dismissed and overlooked. Using soya milk and earth pigments on linen, the subdued tones and stillness of the room are captured.

Colleen’s third piece, ‘Gathering’ does not relate to one specific poem but is a reflection of some of the commentary on human life and living that Jane so beautifully explores across her work. …layers of a life lived, repair and renewal, bravery, tenderness, fragility of relationships, life not always going in a straight line…

The seven small pieces are formed from cotton, wool felt, paper, hand stitch and found objects. They are not always pristine and perfect which echoes the messiness of the human condition. In contrast they are beautifully presented for us to view.

Thank you to Colleen 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.

Tag: poet jane clarke

Artist Focus: Marie Dunne

Artist Focus: Colleen Prendiville