A Dose of Nature

Sheena Malone’s work looks at society’s close relationship to folklore in Ireland. Currently her interests, lie in the contemporary and historical practice of folk medicine in Ireland and is drawn from personal interviews, archival research and traditional plant lore which is combined with magico-religious beliefs about ‘the cure’, inherited healing abilities, the concept of the ‘bean feasa’ and the role of place. The work in this exhibition is inspired by the curative qualities of the Brat Bhríde, the mythology of the Tuatha Dé Danann and Ayurvedic medicine. Over a calendar year medicinal plants cited in Irish folklore archives were gathered to make natural dyes with the resulting dyed fabric combined to create a textile work symbolising a panacea – a cure-all. This work expands upon an ongoing series called The Kildare Folklore Pharmacy and has been supported by Kildare Arts Service.