Ireland has the second highest percentage of single-sex schools in Europe.
The optional subjects on offer in all-girls schools often exclude metal work, woodwork, engineering and technical graphics as subject options, it’s no surprise that women account for just 1 percent of craft apprenticeships in Ireland. while almost no boys school offer home economics.
My collection pulls from symbols of gender and the materials and processes associated with them. The title is taken from a book written by Rosemary Cullen Owens about the Irish suffrage movement. The rhyme at the bottom of the cover depicts a woman behaving like ‘any naughty boy’ and is subsequently jailed. I find the performance of gender sometimes so bizarre.
What is masculine and what is feminine? What tools do your hands hold? To what extent has your gender influenced this? Did your granny have a hammer?‘did your granny have a hammer???’
2023
mary had a little bag and in it was a hammer. She broke a pane of glass one day, like any naughty boy. a garda came along and now she's in mountjoy.
mary had a little bag and in it was a hammer. She broke a pane of glass one day, like any naughty boy. a garda came along and now she's in mountjoy.
'gone knitting' necklace. silver, steel, lead weights.
'gone knitting' necklace. silver, steel, lead weights.
'gone knitting' necklace. silver, steel, lead weights.
'gone knitting' necklace. silver, steel, lead weights.
'weights and ladders' object. stockings, copper, silver, lead weight.
'brute force and determination' hammered vessel. copper
'brute force and determination' hammered vessel. copper
'brute force and determination' hammered vessel. copper
'brute force and determination' hammered vessel. copper
'brute force and determination' hammered vessel. copper
'brute force and determination' hammered vessel. copper
'hold my handle' necklace. copper wire (knitted), neodymium magnets, silver
'hold my handle' necklace. copper wire (knitted), neodymium magnets, silver
handles and hardware, ''masculine'' forms demanding you take assertive action to use them
'hold my handle' necklace. copper wire (knitted), neodymium magnets, silver
'hold my handle' necklace. copper wire (knitted), neodymium magnets, silver
detached handle forms bracelets
copper wire on knitting machine
'handle with care' brooch, silver, steel.
'handle with care' brooches, silver, steel.
'handle with care' brooch, silver, steel.
'handle with care' brooch, silver, steel.
process
inspiration
‘now she’s in mountjoy’
silver, embroidery hoop, school skirt lining, thread. mountjoy is the name of a men’s prison in ireland.
'now she's in mountjoy' silver, school skirt lining, embroidery hoop, thread.
'now she's in mountjoy' silver, school skirt lining, embroidery hoop, thread.
'now she's in mountjoy' silver, school skirt lining, embroidery hoop, thread.
'now she's in mountjoy' silver, school skirt lining, embroidery hoop, thread.
'now she's in mountjoy' silver, school skirt lining, embroidery hoop, thread.
'now she's in mountjoy' silver, school skirt lining, embroidery hoop, thread.
This piece has been included in two exhibitions with ‘‘precious collective’’, taking part in both Munich jewellery week 2024 and the Cagnes-sur-mer festival in France.