Artists' Voices: Life in a Pandemic | Ruth Lyons in conversation from her studio in County Offaly

Episode 6 of a new series of oral histories, led by Donal Maguire, curator of the Gallery's ESB CSIA, documenting some of the experiences and thoughts of artists living and working through the COVID-19 emergency. In this episode, artist Ruth Lyons discusses the development of Salarium, and other projects she has continued through the COVID-19 pandemic. This conversation was recorded on 19 June 2020. Born in Dublin, Ruth Lyons lives and works in County Offaly. She is a sculptor who works with a variety of natural and human-made materials. In 2019, works from her ongoing project Salarium were acquired by the National Gallery of Ireland, following their inclusion in the exhibition Shaping Ireland: Landscapes in Irish Art. About Artists' Voices: Life in a Pandemic: Oral histories are a unique record of an individual’s personal thoughts and experiences. They are a valuable source of knowledge for researchers, providing insight and connection to a person’s life and character. The ESB Centre for the Study of Irish Art, at the National Gallery of Ireland, builds, cares for and makes available the national record of art in Ireland for public study and interpretation. Oral histories are a type of archival record and form an interesting part of the ESB CSIA’s collection. In recognizing the significant impact of COVID-19, the ESB CSIA is carrying out a series of short conversations with artists to document some of their experiences and thoughts of living and working through the pandemic. These conversations, led by Donal Maguire, Curator of the ESB CSIA, were recorded using technology that is conveniently available to the artist. The use of commonplace technologies for this project reflects the more general and increasing significance of these platforms for everyday communication. The ESB CSIA acknowledges the generosity of the artists for agreeing to talk about their life and work during this uncertain time. This oral history project has been generously supported by ESB, sponsor of the ESB Centre for the Study of Irish Art Photo: Frank Abruzzese