Dorothy Cross is one of Ireland’s leading international artists. Working in many disciplines from sculpture, opera and photography to video and installation works, she is fascinated with the natural world. As someone who truly considers a shark as much a treasure, as a Vermeer, her creativity is driven by an ambition to explore new perspectives. Cross is well known from her iconic public installation ‘Ghost Ship,’ in which a disused lighthouse glowed at night with luminous paint to works made from cows udders, which she herself describes as being ‘very visceral, very strange’. Part of this series the ‘Virgin Shroud’ is now owned by TATE Modern. Her work often seems designed to challenge the viewer.
She has participated in the Venice, Istanbul and Liverpool biennials and was invited to curate a unique exhibition from the Irish National Collections entitled ‘Trove’. Based now in Connemara – a place that nurtures her Dorothy explores and presents works like the recent ‘Heartship’ of great power and ingenuity.