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- Ciara Sheehan
Ciara
Sheehan
Miss Lust Garden
Ciara Sheehan is a 22-year-old artist from County Kerry and is currently based in Limerick. She works with diverse media, including sculpture, ceramics, metal, textiles, sound and digital drawing. Her work draws influence from Celtic mythology and contemporary feminist discourse and her own lived experiences. Ciara’s immersive dream-like installation are a form of carnivalesque storytelling, re-imagining and deconstructing familiar folktales. Through these fantasy sculptures, Ciara presents a joyful celebration of feminist identity and the process of making—while acknowledging the contradictory qualities that often accompany these experiences.
A Sheela Na Gig is a medieval stone carving dating back to the 12th century that would be often found by churches and on castles around Ireland. This figure depicts a naked figure which for the most part appears to be a female displaying her genitalia with an exaggerated vulva. They are thought to have been interpreted as mother earth figures, fertility goddesses or as a symbol of protection.
‘Miss Lust Garden’ acts as a reclamation of these ideologies around women in society now. Showing the Sheela as a symbol of strength, a celebration of the female body and what it can mean to be a woman. The female body is not an object to be sexualised but a vessel that gives life and allows us as women to experience life. I hope this fantastical botanical garden of a female figure to be seen as a positive
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