Lot 76: Ruth Power - Irish Dry Stone Wall

Signed / Not framed / Original work / Acrylic on canvas

Ruth Power graduated with a degree in ceramics from the National College of Art and Design in 2011 and has won numerous awards, including the Sculpture in Context Award (2011) and a Future Makers award (2011). She works full time from her studio in Dublin where she creates sculptures, jewelry and paintings.

This painting is the beginning of a series of Irish dry stone walls, which are synonymous with the Irish rural landscape. It is estimated that the Irish countryside has over 400,000km of them. Dry stone walling has undergone a resurgence in popularity in Ireland due to the perseverance of a small number of farmers and the re-engagement with it by others. A small number of dedicated masons continue to keep the craft alive.

The building of dry stone walls is a long- standing rural-farming tradition dating back to the Neolithic Period. The oldest known dry stone walls in Ireland are the Céide fields of Co Mayo, built approximately 5,800 years ago. The walls form an integral part of our culture, history and our landscape, such as the Famine Walls and Ring/Fairy Forts.

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