Lucy Tarmey: Investigating displacement and belonging, and reflecting on the housing crisis
In a moment when Ireland’s housing crisis continues to shape not only where people can live, but how they could imagine concepts of home, stability and belonging, painter and multidisciplinary artist Lucy Tarmey discusses these heavy topics at the centre of her practice. Originally from County Wicklow, and now based in Dublin after graduating from the National College of Art and Design, Lucy is spending the next two years rooted in the country’s capital while also venturing into rural Ireland in search of new perspectives. Lucy’s work is restless, intuitive and extremely observational. It traces the emotional path between displacement and belonging, a vehicle also examining the fragility of domestic space and the shifting boundaries of what we could call “home”. In this interview, Lucy reflects on her inspirations, her ever evolving themes, and the creative processes that drive her practice forward.
Where do you find inspiration for your work? Are there particular themes/aesthetics that you are repeatedly drawn to?
Lucy: I find inspiration primarily through my lived in and observed experiences, that evoke intense curiosity and/or a strong emotional response within me. I've been working a lot with the overarching theme of displacement and belonging. Through this, I was investigating the fragility of domestic stability, looking at displacement, ideas of home and reflecting on the housing crisis. Now, looking at displacement and belonging as a spectrum, I've begun exploring feelings of belonging outside of domestic settings. I find myself drawn to ambiguity, I enjoy figures and spaces that are entwined, elements entirely absorbed and others starkly resisting this merging happening between figure and space. Repeatedly, I find myself drawn to furniture, chairs in particular. I use objects in my paintings to anchor what can become otherwise abstracted transient scenes. Everyday objects such as chairs become these tangible, solid and discernible markers of human existence. Something about them seems to hold the past and echo the possible future, which I find myself fascinated by.
What is your favourite aspect of the creative process?
Lucy: There are so many parts that I enjoy, it's difficult to choose a singular aspect as the creative process itself isn't linear. Different areas of my practice utilise different creative processes, parts that are challenging and others that are exciting. Speaking specifically to my creative process in terms of painting, I'd have to say the underpainting. It's exhilarating, covering a blank canvas. There's all this excitement of what's to come. It always feels very rewarding. It's never easy to start but once I start an underpainting, it almost feels like the painting is finished before it has really begun. There's all this kinetic energy about where you want the piece to go and what research and references have led you there. Then having to surrender to the painting in a sense as they tend to have their own agency and I find it's best not to stifle it with my own rigid vision. The underpainting is the stage that invites the painting to take on a life of its own. It's blissfully ignorant to the challenges and the somewhat exhausting and oftentimes disheartening push and pull that lies ahead. There's a quote from Philip Gustav that I find solace in when embarking on that difficult stage of a painting “art without trial disappears at a glance: it is too primitive or hopeful”. I find it resonates with me and surfaces in my mind right as I leave the comfort and joy of an underpainting, be it a wash of colour or mapped out masses.
Do you sell any of your designs? If yes, where?
Lucy: I do, nowadays there are so many ways to do so. Traditionally, when my work is in a show that's open to the public, I have it for sale. Instagram has also been a place where I sell work. Anywhere you can contact me, email, Instagram, website, work is available to be purchased.
What are you currently working on? Please include and describe upcoming shows and exhibitions!
Lucy: Yes, a group of friends and I who have been working as a collective have another show coming up in March! We've just wrapped up our first exhibition, ‘Hearth’ in Wexford, which was such a success and an immense joy to be a part of. As of now, I'm working on a few different things. Making a body of work is one of my main priorities. As mentioned previously about using an overarching theme of ‘displacement and belonging’, it's given me space to work on multiple bodies of work that all communicate with each other.
Writer: Maeve Ruane Ronayne
Editor: Shaunamay Martin Bohan
