Shadows & Stones
A series of megalithic mounds, dating from 3700 to 3200 B.C. broods over the Boyne Valley. Incised on 220 huge stones there is a Celtic legacy that for centuries was attributed to a race of wizards. The highly evolved symbols may speak of astromonical seasonal observations – ritual dedicated to the cycles of the sun and moon – or reverence and afterlife.
At the solstice, a beam of light enters the mound at Newgrange and travels 90 feet up a passage to illuminate the central chamber for brief moments. The structure vibrates with ancestral energy. On the walls, the lines and marks left resonating through the ages burn into the present – art left for artists by artists.
These drawings and pastels resulted from a trip to Newgrange and a renewed sense of heritage and awareness of the timeless, seamless flow of creativity. The exhibition at Here and Now in Toronto, was dedicated to the memory of my friend and mentor, Dorothy Paton Irwin.
