Irish visual artist Ciara O’Connor on using embroidery to explore women’s lives
Irish visual artist Ciara O’Connor on using embroidery to explore women’s lives

Nathalie Marquez Courtney

How an interior stylist turned this period Cork apartment into a quietly luxurious home
How an interior stylist turned this period Cork apartment into a quietly luxurious home

IMAGE Interiors & Living

This picturesque, split-level home in Delgany is on the market for €995,000
This picturesque, split-level home in Delgany is on the market for €995,000

Sarah Finnan

March 28: Today’s top stories in 60 seconds
March 28: Today’s top stories in 60 seconds

Sarah Gill

Real Weddings: Keelin and Darren tie the knot overlooking Dingle Bay
Real Weddings: Keelin and Darren tie the knot overlooking Dingle Bay

Shayna Sappington

Let me tell you why a mother is the perfect employee
Let me tell you why a mother is the perfect employee

Dominique McMullan

I broke up with my boyfriend and now I have bangs
I broke up with my boyfriend and now I have bangs

Edaein OConnell

WIN a family pass to Emerald Park this Easter
WIN a family pass to Emerald Park this Easter

Shayna Sappington

This peaceful Victorian-era Galway home is on the market for €1.65 million
This peaceful Victorian-era Galway home is on the market for €1.65 million

Sarah Finnan

How to recreate 90s skinny brows without plucking out your eyebrows
How to recreate 90s skinny brows without plucking out your eyebrows

Holly O'Neill

Image / Editorial

The Changemakers: Alice Maher on artistic language and finding new narratives


By IMAGE
08th Jun 2018
The Changemakers: Alice Maher on artistic language and finding new narratives

In this month’s issue of IMAGE magazine, Orla Neligan talked to the Irish women who are making a big impact in their respective field.

Alice Maher

Artist

“I was always drawing and observing – always looking,” muses artist Alice Maher, whose artistic practice spans the gamut of creative genres, from painting to sculpture, drawing, installation, animation and film, often with the female as the protagonist of her content.

Photo credit: Barry McCall

Initially, Alice was more conservative in her work, but now she is intent on finding new narratives and images of women that are non-exploitative, affording them an agency and psyche of their own. Of her ability to reinvent, she cites the constant development of her artistic language, without copying herself, as the biggest challenge. Along with other creatives, Alice has worked to encourage social change through cultural means with the Artists’ Campaign to Repeal the Eighth Amendment.

Biggest triumph/disappointment?

“My biggest triumph is waking each morning, and my greatest disappointment is having to go to sleep.”

“Visual culture is a wonderful vehicle for expression and allows people to approach and engage with complex subjects,” notes Maher, who together with other artists created A Day of Testimonies – re-enactments of testimonies from people affected by the Eighth Amendment, which are available free of charge to the public. “I am adding my voice to a bigger one, I suppose, so that does make me an agent for change. In the 19th century, women were the muses of culture. I hope that we become the makers of culture, not just being looked at, but adding to the conversation.” Our eyes and minds are open.

The Ireland of the future would be…

“A place where quality and respect is afforded to all citizens. We deserve agency over our own bodies and lives.”

Pick up this month’s edition of IMAGE magazine to see the article in full.