‘THE WORKS’ 2007- 2008

 

With support from an Arts Council Award, de Bath was commissioned by Bord na Móna to communicate stories about a working industrial peat site. This involved researching, making and exhibiting paintings outdoors in a way that engaged with the workers, the bog lands and the elements. The work explores the connections between local rural communities and the land with which they work and interact. It is concerned with the things that link us to previous generations, and the changing value of ‘bog land-space’ that has been shaped and reshaped by our interaction with it. 

Given the widespread use of steel on the site, she experimented with overwintering test pieces - painting on steel using artist quality oil paints.

A series of paintings on steel that make reference to the workers machinery and the ecological context of their work space was placed on site in 2008 at Ballydermot Works, Rathangan. Co. Kildare.  Posters of the Commissioned work and of its siting were included in a Bord na Móna publication and presented to delegates attending the 2008 International Peat Conference in Ireland.

These paintings weather both the time and the workers interaction, as they maintain their position on a number of exterior walls of Ballydermot Works.

 

De Bath acknowledges the support of Bord na Móna, in particular, the men at Ballydermot Works, the Team Leader at Glashabawn, Head of Peat Operations, Area Foreman and the Arts Council of Ireland.