Within the Realm of Shadows

My daughter, Ana Claire and I after giving a power point presentation at New York University, celebrating Yeats and his impact on the world. Fairies in Celtic civilizations are a complicated topic that always stirred people's imagination. They are believed to be a supernatural race of beings descended from the Tuatha de Danann, an ancient, magical people who were the original inhabitants of Ireland; WB Yeats (1865-1939), the renowned Irish poet, firmly believed in them and felt that the average Irish person had managed to maintain a true "rapport with the spirit world" in their folklore and experiences, which he meticulously documented. I was lured to the truth of their existence after being inspired by my grandmother's tales living within that same mountain range. According to my grandmother, the idea of fairies was deeply ingrained in the local way of life and was taken very seriously throughout that mountainous region. As a multi talented artist I began producing various mediums including woodcarvings to create images of the many characters that play a role within the fairy world. Following that, black and white photos of my work were taken and went through a process of image editing. Each time when I returned to Ireland, I would spend time searching for more landscape features that would provide my work with a sense of mystery. Since then Yeats and I have had comparable experiences, I found that a lot of my photographic images and my stories complement his beautiful words so well, that I compiled this body of work for your pleasure.