By Ciaran Tierney
Visual artist Sian Costello admits that she had “a bit of a breakdown” the first day she arrived at Áras Éanna courtesy of a one-month residency in partnership with the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) this summer.
Suddenly, after leaving her “normal” life in Limerick City behind, the young County Roscommon native (24) was excited by the prospect of having a full month to herself to work on her art on beautiful Inis Oirr.
She only had a few weeks to arrange her travel and time off work after being announced as the successful recipient of this year’s RHA Emerging Artist residency and found that any plans she had were upended by the beauty of the island.
“It’s been fabulous to have a whole month to dedicate to my practice. I couldn’t get over the stunning view and the setting when I first arrived here. It’s also quite distracting because I wanted to watch the sunset over Inis Meáin from the studio every evening,” says Sian.
“It’s nearly like entering another world, allowing yourself to sit in your thoughts for a long time, which is something you don’t normally get a chance to do every day. You are always thinking of other things and other people. It has been a bit of a ‘selfish’ month, because it’s given me a chance to focus on my own ideas. But it’s been great to have this opportunity.”
