Photo Credit: Darren Kinsella, Southside People Newspaper

Hi, I'm Fiona de Lacy

A mixed media artist, ceramist, designer, sculptor and writer with over three decades of experience, based in Dublin, Ireland.

My Journey

Known for my contemporary abstract art works, my interest in experimenting with colour, forms and textures grew in the 1990’s while attending Ballyfermot Senior College of Art (now BCFE). In 1991 I graduated from BCFE and began my studies of ceramics, sculptor and 3 Dimensional studies in Dun
Laoghaire Collage of Art & Design, Dublin (now IADT).

While in Dún Laoghaire I discovered my love of recycling and began merging old rusty metal grids and copper plumbing fittings, sourced from the art colleges skip (dumpster), into my ceramics and raku fired sculptures. This igniting my fascination with mixed media and my interest in combining contrasting elements continues to this day.

While in art college full time I attended evening courses in Jewellery Making and Design (in the NCAD in Dublin). During the summer I travelled to Kilkenny to complete a two week course in Enamelling and Art Metalwork (at the Grennan Mill Art school) so that I could expand my knowledge and skills as an artist.

Dún Laoghaire College of Art & Design (IADT)

During my final year exhibition in Dún Laoghaire College of Art and Design (now IADT) in 1995, one of my ceramic Raku sculptures was selected by members of the faculty, which included the head of the sculptural ceramics department, Hestor Scott and the former Principle of DLCAD Trevor Scott.  

The chosen sculpture (one of a set of five) was displayed in DLCAD's main entrance foyer for over a decade and is currently part of IADT’s permanent collection.

Teaching the technique of Raku Firing

  • Slip Painting Ceramics

    DLCAD Exhibition 1993

  • Raku Firing

    I returned to the sculpture department of DLCAD (IADT) as a ceramics instructor in 1995 and 1996 to teach the summer students the art of Raku Firing. (Raku Firing is a dangerous technique in which pottery is removed from a kiln while it's red-hot and then placed into various combustible materials to create unique and unpredictable patterns).

  • A Raku Fired Pot

    DLCAD Exhibition 1995

Abstract Painting

In my later years as an artist (with limited space) I continuously experimented,
incorporating my knowledge of ceramics, sculptural techniques and jewellery making into my acrylic painting/creations.

My work became instantly recognisable with pieces like “Spectrum”, “Breathe” and “Generations” drawing a lot of positive attention at exhibitions and through social media for their brightly coloured, sometimes heavily textured, 3 dimensional layers.

Each piece is unique.

Spectrum

The story behind Spectrum

Spectrum is one of my favorite paintings. This piece was a labour of love, taking me hundreds of hours over eight months to fully complete. I dove into this piece to stay grounded while my youngest child became my fourth son to be diagnosed with autism.

Every millimeter of this painting has been meticulously measured and painstakingly constructed to create multiple rings, each ring slightly different and growing in size. Every circle represents the idea of a perfect ‘family circle’. However, hidden within every circle are two deliberately placed ‘flaws', as appearances can be deceptive and no family is perfect.

These small differences within the design are barely noticeable to the human eye but if you stand directly in front of the painting and look carefully, the errors can be found… eventually.

For me these ‘different’ pieces represent a child on the spectrum, who at first glance may appear to be the same as every other child... until you take a closer look.

For someone else, their own family circle, may be ‘different’ as they have a child with a disability, a missing parent, two dads, or a grandmother with Alzheimer's. Every family circle is both perfect and flawed… and every child on the spectrum is different and unique.

Spectrum is probably my most recognisable painting to date, loved by many for its carefully constructed, kaleidoscope of colours that entice the viewer to take a closer look.

Below you can see the finished painting of Spectrum .

Acrylic/mixed media on deep edge canvas. Size: H 75 cm x W 101 cm

Breathe

My painting Breathe is about finding your inner strength when your back is against the wall, when life is throwing everything at you and you think you won’t be able to cope with one more thing.

It’s a reminder to take a long deep breath in and slowly exhale and just breathe because no matter how hard life may be and no matter how hopeless the situation might feel in that moment, it will eventually pass, if you keep breathing.

You can overcome anything… if you just take a moment and... breathe.

New Home!

This is the finished painting of Breathe hanging in its new home. This wonderful lady felt such a deep connection with this painting that it was purchased so fast I'm not sure if anyone else ever got to see it.

I've been told that it continues to bring her joy all these years later and is still a great topic of discussion at family gatherings/parties.

Acrylic/Mixed Media on deep edge Canvas. Size: H 40.5 cm x W 98.5 cm

Dyslexic

My journey with Dyslexia

This painting was of course inspired by my Dyslexia.

It was initially intended to be a dark painting relating to my negative experiences in a Catholic primary school… but instead it transformed into a positive and vibrant reflection of my later, much happier years, in secondary school and art college.

Around the age of seven I was made repeat 1st class due to my sever difficulty with reading. Dyslexia didn't exist then so no one knew ‘what was wrong’ with me. My parents were told that I was 'a little bit retarded' or 'handicapped' (the teachers words) and I required an additional learning class each day specifically for children who are 'slow'. On top of this, my new teacher took great pleasure in tormenting me. She referred to me, daily, as 'the Dunce' or the 'Retard' and actively encouraging my class mates to do the same.

I endured her for three very long years, spending hours each day standing in the corner of the room facing the wall... for not being able to spell, while she openly mocking me. Reminding me that back in her day children ‘like me’ would have to wear a cone on their head with the letter 'D' on it... so that everyone would know which child was the 'Dunce'.

It was completely irrelevant that I was an 'A' student in maths, I could draw a picture of anything that was in front of me. I made my own jewellery, fixed neighbours jewellery and even built furniture at home with my dad. I understood patterns and complex building plans and how various mechanisms operated... but I could not spell to save my life and in the 1970's that meant... that I was 'a retard'.

My life completely changed when I moved to secondary school. There I learnt woodwork, metalwork, art, music... all the subjacts that came naturally to me. I discovered that I was Dyslexic at the age of eighteen... and that it was a gift!

This painting was my very colourful way of giving 'two fingers' to the 1970's educational system... while also welcoming today's more inclusive forms of teaching for children with different abilities.

The vibrant colours, rough textures and other materials represent the many other valuable skills I have that were overlooked or considered less important in the educational system.

This painting says... look at me now!

Dyslexic was purchased by Holy Rosary Primary School faculty as a wedding gift... for two teachers.

Acrylic / Mixed Media on Deep edge Canvas. Size: H 40.5 cm x W 30.5cm

It's Complicated

My painting It's Complicated was inspired by Cormac who attended the NCBI (National Council for the Blind Ireland) with my son Ryan. Cormac was about four years old at the time and he was chasing my son around the room absolutely fearless, squealing with joy, despite the fact that he was completely blind. The idea that someone may never have experienced the beauty of colours, light and shadows bothered me tremendously as that’s what I live for.

It’s Complicated is a brightly coloured, heavily textured painting that even the visually impaired and blind can enjoy through touch. This painting drew a lot of attention and is still one of my personal favourites.

Acrylic / Mixed Media on Deep edge Canvas. Size: H 40.5 cm x W 98.5 cm

Fractured

  • Under Construction

    I absolutely loved making this painting but it was a nightmare to construct. There were so many individual pieces to assemble, measure, space and glue that I lost count of the amount of times I superglued my fingers together. Layers of skin were lost in the creation of this piece.

  • Am I hiding something?

    Well yes, I do like to hide things inside my paintings from time to time... so, hidden within this painting is one miniture abstract painting that has been painted and signed by... fellow Irish Artist... Dara Dunne.

  • Finished!

    The finished piece was very difficult to photograph as it creates its own shadows. The further back you stand, the clearer the painting becomes. There are three hundred and ninty one individual abstract paintings within this painting and over 500+ pieces when assembled.

Fractured... inside.

From a distance this painting shows one perfectly constructed side. On closer inspection you will find missing connections between some of the pieces.

Each block represents the various people you might connect with during your life time, some will be lifelong unbreakable friendships, while other connections may have been broken, fractured through circumstances, miscommunications… or even deliberately... out of necessity.

One piece within the painting was painted by another artist then hidden to demonstrate that what you see on the surface might not match what's going on behind closed doors.

There is a lot more to this painting than meets the eye, with a deeper story behind it, which will be shared with it’s new owner (along with a treasure map showing the location of the hidden painting).

This painting is unique. It will not be reproduced / copied.

No prints are available.

Painting & sawing

Perspective

I love a challange. From the very first seed of an idea, I knew that this piece was going to take about a year to fully complete... and I also knew it would be spectacular when finished. It began with painting hundred's of thin and thick wooden sticks. Then each square / rectangle had to be preecisely measured and cut accordingly.

assembling, Gluing & positioning

Construction

Once every piece was cut/painted/glued and all touch ups were completed then it was finally time to start getting all the pieces into place. I had to control my urge to assemble everything when there was still so much touching up to do beforehand.

Then I'd to make platforms to raise some pieces above others to achive this 'floating' effect. These floating pieces cast shadows making the painting come to life.

The finished Painting

Perspective

Not all is what it seems. From the front this painting appears to be a flat surface but when you walk past it gives the illusion that some pieces are moving. When viewing the piece from the side it appears as if some squares & rectangles are jumping out of the painting.

This three-dimentional painting is of course about peoples views and perspective.

While prints might be available in the future this painting is a one of a kind piece of sculptural work... and it's one of my personal favourites to date.

Acrylic/mixed media on deep edge canvas.

Size: H 101 cm x 75 cm

The story behind the painting

Generations

Generations was inspired by my childhood home in Meadow Park, Churchtown, Dublin 14.

I was very blessed to have grown up with almost all of my relatives from great grandmothers, grandmothers, Aunts, Uncles, 1st & 2nd Cousins etc.

The O'Toole family, the de Lacy's, Peggy's and the Dunnes, all lived right next door to each other, spanning four neighbouring houses, from 37 to 43 in Meadow PK.

The Centre Piece

My Family

The centre piece - represents my family, the de Lacy’s, with eight silver rings down the centre all linked to each other representing my mother, my father and their six daughters the de Lacy girls. The silver/grey bricks are the small walls which separated our homes that we stepped over daily. My family is raised above the others, supported and surrounded by our relatives as they carried us through very dark times in my childhood (the tragic death of our sister Emma (age 7) and the sudden death of my father (age 41) soon after), hence the black background).

The chrome bars - seperating the canvases represent the respectable space between the homes, while still supporting each other.

The finished Painting

Generations

Circles - In the background of this painting, in among the many circles, you will find four circles which are slightly larger than all the others representing the 4 homes of Meadow Park. (1) Aunt Jean & Uncle Austin’s home (with their 4 children), (2) Was my home, Mum Elsie Dad Tom (with 6 children), (3) Granny & Great Granny’s home, (4) Aunt Teresa & Uncle Danny’s home (with their 10 children), in all there were 28 relatives between the 4 homes. (This led to many fantastic parties).

The smaller circles "The Meadows" represent the many Generations of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren that have been & will be born into the world all because of these four ordinary houses, full of extraordinary people. Some circles within the painting have been left empty of colour, representing our loved ones that have passed over the years.

This painting is unique. It will never be copied or reproduced.

Acrylic / Mixed Media on Deep edge Canvas.

Size: H 98.5 cm x W 85cm

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