Iza Jane Geraghty 

My thesis explores key female, contemporary Irish artists in relation to space, examining how they shed light on issues of representation, power dynamics, and the redefinition of public and private spheres. As the new Ireland progresses, all sorts of added boundaries are added to the lot of the female artist. Being a woman of colour, or from a war-torn country, or from a socially disadvantaged background where the last thing on the household shopping list is a canvas and a paint brush - may present further obstacles to new Irish artists in terms of opportunities. Gender based conventions would potentially exist in the freest of vocations, the production of art. Art is ultimately a projection of the self. An artist is vulnerable in a way few other public service providers are. Gender based critique should be a non-existent concern for the artist, the art should stand for itself. The wonder is not whether the female artist is equal in brilliance to her male counterpart, but whether in fact she is so powerful that she has only begun to scrape the tip of the creative iceberg. Women give birth to the next generation and have done so since they were assigned that role by nature. The most powerful role in humanity may be symbolic of a more profound and weighty role in the arts.