What on earth can art do? What is the role of artists in the face of climate change and biodiversity loss? How do we connect with sisters? Do feminists principles inform our practice? How do we sustain our practice? What sustains us? How does our art practice connect with the earth/ nature? What are the wider connections and solidarities we make through our work? Moving from the local to the global?
Thirty women took part in The Art of Sustenance, Sisterhood and Solidarity event as part of International Women’s Day 2025 at Siamsa Tire, Tralee. The event was hosted by artist Lisa Fingleton and Siamsa Tire to coincide with her current exhibition The Square Tomato which runs in the gallery until 22nd March. The event started with a tour of the exhibition and a screening of the film ‘The Radical Art of Living’ with Dr Vandana Shiva. Inspired by Dr Shiva, Lisa’s work the Monto Man is about challenging the use of pesticides and herbicides which are having such devastating implications for health and ecosystems. The Monto Man hangs from the roof of the gallery.
Over the course of the morning, artists Amelia Caulfield, Bernadette Kiely, Lisa Fingleton, Silke Michels, Zoë Uí Fhaoláin and Zoe Rush shared their creative climate projects and work relating to the important issues of our time including biodiversity loss, climate change, food, farming and flooding. According to Lisa the Kerry Visual Artist In Residence and embedded artist with Brilliant Ballybunion, “The feedback from the event was so positive even though we were talking about very challenging issues. It was really great to see how artists can take can process the big problems we face and translate them into art so people can engage with them in a more accessible way. Women were really impacted by the work of Bernadette Kiely. She told us how her house was flooded at the age of three and how that experience has informed her paintings for the last few decades”.
The Neart na Machairí shared how they are working in a tangible and creative way with the community in the Maharees. They also facilitated a number of creative exercises at the end of the morning including collage, painting with natural dyes and creating a mandala.
This event was supported by Siamsa Tire and the Creative Climate Action Fund, in partnership with Brilliant Ballybunion and Neart na Machairí and the Kerry Visual Artist in Residence programme
Artist Bios:
Bernadette Kiely – Bernadette is a visual artist based on the quayside of the river Nore in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny. Known for her powerful portrayals of the fragility of the natural and physical world, Bernadette draws particularly on her experiences as a child growing up on the quayside in Carrick on Suir, Co. Tipperary, where she witnessed many flood events which have continued throughout her life as an adult living on the river Nore in Co. Kilkenny. The effects of flooding and decay on land and human lives have been an enduring theme in her practice for over 25 years expanding in scale and intensity along with the urgency of the present climate emergency.
Lisa Fingleton – Lisa Fingleton is an artist, writer and grower who has spent over twenty years cultivating deep-rooted connections between art, food, nature and peace. Through her role as embedded artist with two large scale Creative Climate Action Projects, she supports communities to explore how we can grow food, protect nature and be creative all at the same time? Lisa is currently the embedded artist with Brilliant Ballybunion and the Kerry Visual Artist in Residence. Her studio is based at The Barna Way, an organic farm, woodland and wildlife sanctuary near Ballybunion.
Silke Michels – Visual/Performance Artist and Mindfulness teacher who works as an art facilitator in education and health and offers creative wellbeing courses/coaching. This work is strongly emphasised by inclusion and equality to offer a safe space for a creative process to unfold.
Zoë Uí Fhaoláin – Zoë trained in performance, scenography and participatory arts. She lives in Corca Dhuibhne for the past 17 years. Her work is inspired by an immersion into the landscape and language of the peninsula. Zoë has an exploratory approach to art-making, with a skill for noticing detail, pattern and connections – she revels in sharing this with others. She hopes to ignite playful curiosity and encourage empathy.
Zoe Rush – Zoë is a designer who has been living in Castlegregory for the past two years. She has volunteered in community-led projects throughout her life, exploring and supporting local resilience and place-based sustainability and climate action. Her passion lies in designing workshops that engage people to participate in imagining a future that is locally relevant, environmentally sustainable and just.
The Square Tomato runs at Siamsa Tire, Tralee Monday-Saturday 10.00-5.00 until 22nd March. Entry is free and all are welcome. Read the exhibition essay by Gemma Tipton HERE
Photos by Rena Blake