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In earthy tones of umber, ochre and sienna the main body of the painting illustrates a young woman carrying her worldly belongings on her back, her face half turned in a sorrowful farewell to the place she called home. In subtle contrast the looming, grey-blue sky; scarred and scratched; feels overbearing where any sense of optimism or hope are lost.

The atmosphere in the painting is of age-old sorrow and lament. The tangible forced displacement and lack of material wealth are contrasted by the power of youth and determination of set facial features and tightly gripping hand.

This piece was inspired by the touring exhibition reflecting An Gorta Mór, ‘Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger’, curated by Niamh O’Sullivan, with visual references to the work of Jack B. Yeats. It explores the issues of class, identity and ethnicity, connecting the displacement of the Irish people to the on-going displacement of refugees and asylum seekers today.

• Original Irish figurative oil painting
• Donegal figurative painting
• Péinteáil fhíorach Dhún na nGall
• Original artwork
• Oil on paperboard.
• Painting size 25 x 32 cm
• Framed size (approx.) 42.5 x 50.5 x 4cm
• Double frame, outer frame and inset white limed wood frame, no glass.
• Price includes frame.
• Medium: Oil on paper