Joya: AiR / Aisling Keavey / IRE

"Stillness. Silence. Expanse. Isolation.

The only sound is crickets chirping at night and the birds announcing the sunrise.

Cracked earth. Lines. Shapes. Shadows.

The thunderstorm; watching the lightning strike the mountains in the distance and hearing the thunder rolling in, watching the sunset over the mountains with the other residents and Frida. Space to think, create and research. Space to walk, and take in the remoteness of the place.

Coming into Joya: AiR, I had a lot of plans to tie up some loose strands of research and practice, but I found my days preoccupied with other things, spending my time sitting outside under the olive tree, or in the studio writing or reading. While at Joya: AiR, I had the space and time to concentrate on projects that I had been putting on the back-burner: namely scanning and sorting through slide negatives of photojournalism images of the museum collection from the Topkapi museum in Istanbul. My time at Joya: AiR has completely reinvigorated my practice and I feel so indebted to the place and to Simon and Donna for this experience."

Aisling Keavey