Dorothy Cross
, Irish, b.1956
Title
Ghost Ship (ii)Date2011
MediumPhotoetching with phosphorescent ink on paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 47.5 x 55 cm
Plate: 37 x 45 cm
Signedlower right: Dorothy Cross
Credit LinePurchased, 2019
Object numberNGI.2019.46
DescriptionGhost Ship (i) and (ii) (NGI.2019.46 and .47) are etchings from a limited edition of 75. The image is printed over a base of luminescent ink which absorbs light and releases it slowly as a phosphorescent glow in darkness. The prints relate to a major public art project ‘Ghost Ship’ which Cross undertook in 1999. Lightships were located on reefs that were too deep to build lighthouses. By 1970, most lightships around Ireland were decommissioned and replaced by satellite buoys. Cross turned a de-commissioned lightship into a ghostly artwork by painting it with phosphorescent paint. The Ghost Ship remained in Dublin Bay for three weeks. These prints, created over ten years later memorialise both the 1999 project and the lightships themselves.Inscriptionlower left: 49/75