Amelia Stein, Irish, b. 1958
Printer:
Title: White House from The Big Sky, 2012
Date: 2019
Medium: Archival silver gelatin print
Dimensions:
Sheet: 40 x 50 cm
Credit Line: Purchased, 2019
Object Number: NGI.2019.144
DescriptionProduce in the last decade, Amelia Stein’s Big Sky prints were made in the epic landscape of Co. Mayo. Working with traditional film, the large format, hand held Mamaiya, translates truthfully the drama of light, weather and isolation that descends on this corner of Ireland. In each composition the sky envelopes the presence of sheds and ruined cottages. The narrative may seem familiar but the technique feels almost painterly. Speaking of this body of work Stein says that while she was in the landscape, it stared to yield it’s visual stories: “the vernacular buildings and barns, tall white sheds, tiny stone outbuildings – the seemingly abandoned dwellings – those no longer fit for purpose recycled in to turf or animal feed storage… Placed firmly in the wild landscape, sitting as a reminder to those who still inhabit these small townlands of the lives of the individuals and families who had lived there and the stories of those lives lived within their walls.” Two of the main themes in Stein’s oeuvre – absence and migration – are delicately explored in the Big Sky.
ProvenancePurchased, Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin, 2019