Báinín Dearg, Triptych, scanned digital images
 
This work was produced as part of Drawn from Borders, a project initiated and run by by Artlink, Fort Dunree, Donegal. I became interested in how the border is visualised as a drawn line. Looking at the original Border Commission maps from 1925, I noticed the strong red line across the country, a border drawing which has become so familiar, we hardly notice it any longer. On this 1925 map there are the records of indecision and uncertainty, marked by dotted lines. However, we are conscious of how we live around this irregular demarcation of space and jurisdiction. Our lives continue along and through these borderlines. My mother was born in 1928 and her life was spent crossing the borders between home in Donegal, Northern Ireland and Scotland. She has died in this strange Spring during the Coronavirus Pandemic, yet her life and rich culture will continue through following generations. Báinín dearg is the red cloth which she kept at home, to help sore shoulders or an aching back. We need its healing properties more than ever and our human capacity to connect rather than divide.