More recently, however, I have been using images and familiar objects as a metaphor of ideas and concerns common to us all. The theme of the Famine informs three of the images presented. This year's work is much more general but explores the possibilities of roads, barriers, openings and things that trigger memory. Most of the work is etching on copper plate using one or sometimes two plates. In a few works I combine etching on copper with an overprint from carborundum on aluminium.
Some prints are from a carborundum plate alone.
All of the work is carried out in my studio in Claddaghduff. The large pieces are coil-built. This involves using lengths of rolled clay which are gradually blended together and stretched to gradually build up the form. These pieces are built very slowly in stages so that the clay can stiffen between layers in order to sustain the weight of the next layer. The clay is then stretched using hand and metal kidney shaped tool.