“It is no accident that this homeplace… is always subject to violation and destruction. For when 
a people no longer have a space to construct homeplace, we cannot build a meaningful 
community of resistance.” (Bell Hooks, ‘Homeplace; a site of resistance’1990)

I used Bell Hook’s theory of ‘Homeplace: a site of resistance’ in my dissertation. Drawing on her 
propositions, I began to reconsider the role of domestic and communal spaces within my own 
practice. What once began as a series of intimate portraits of my mother and young infant sister, 
gradually expanded into a portrait of an entire community-an exploration not only of family, but 
of place, memory, and the urban landscape that continues to shape my life.

When searching for paintings of the Irish home, I am often met with endless images of the 
countryside: cottages surrounded by fields and quiet towns and villages. Yet for myself and 
many Irish people this version feels distant and unfamiliar. Irish homes are not merely 
picturesque settings from a novel: they are lived spaces shaped by real people and real lives. 
For many, these homes exist not in the rural but in the urban, in cities, council estates, and 
‘flats’.

Through my work I aim to challenge and rewrite this romanticised narrative of the Irish 
homestead. Rather than seas of grass, and rolling countryside, my landscape is a sea of 
concrete. My homestead is composed of ‘flats’, graffiti, long rows of houses, and parks built 
upon the grounds of forgotten army barracks.

My practice seeks to illuminate the working-class communities of Ireland, communities that are 
too often overlooked and underrepresented in the art world. Instead of attempting to conform to 
and idealized vision of Ireland, or creating work to satisfy external preferences, I choose to hold 
true to myself and my heritage. I paint what is familiar to me, what surrounds me each day, 
presenting it within the same visual and cultural context as the romanticized images of green 
fields and storybook villages.

The setting of my work is the New Lodge in North Belfast, situated just up the street from the 
university. This district of Belfast has endured significant hardship throughout both its past and present. 
During the troubles it was an area marked by intense conflict, tensions that lingered into the 
2010s. And yet, despite this history, the community remains resilient.

Where others may only see hardship, I see home, I see myself, and I see a tightly knit community 
bound by shared history and collective strength. My aim is to represent this place as I 
experience it, through colour, light, and moments of beauty, rather than the stereotypes often 
perpetuated by media narratives. Resistance is a word I associate with my homeplace: a place 
that withstands every hardship thrown at it. The Irish people, shaped by centuries of struggle 
and decades of conflict, remains resilient.