As part of the 2022 Quarter 3 theme of “The Scribbling Scribe”, dlr Arts Office invited visual artist John Fay to showcase a series of illuminations created with homemade pigments, in the tradition of Book of Kells period artwork. The work brought forward the long-standing link between visual art and written art.
Fay's creations, which re-create ancient methods and pieces, are also completely contemporary in the artist’s approach to researching the roots, sourcing pigments from found materials, and using connections to advanced technology to understand the visual element to its fullest.
Artwork titles:
- Folio 26v
- Folio 138v
- Carpet Page
- Mark Incipit*
* The text is Latin and reads: Initium evangelii ihu xpi filii di sicut scriptum est in Esaia propheta. This roughly translates as “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ son of God, written by the prophet Isaiah”.
As part of this project dlr Poet in Residence, Jessica Traynor, compiled a proposed book list in response to the artwork and to the Scribbling Scribe theme.
The work was available for viewing on the 4th floor of the dlr Lexicon library.
Recommended reading list compiled by Jessica Traynor
- Negative Space by Cristín Leach
- Handiwork by Sara Baume
- A History of Illuminated Manuscripts by Christopher de Hamel
- The Secret Lives of Colour - Kassia St. Clair
- Pure Colour by Sheila Heti
- Interaction of Colour by Josef Albers
- Chromophobia by David Batchelor
- Bluets by Maggie Nelson
Illuminations artist statement
I am a self-taught contemporary artist based in Dublin. I have always had a fascination with history, mythology, and Celtic art. While I do some modern surreal artwork, I always return to the myths, legends and unique Insular artforms that I love so much.
I've had a long fascination with the Insular artwork of the Irish monks and I've wondered at how they created marvels like The Book of Kells, Book of Durrow, Lindisfarne gospels etc. Insular artwork contains four main influences: Geometric/step patterns from Greece and Rome. Spirals from Celtic art. Zoomorphic designs from Germanic styles and knotwork/interlace which was widespread in Europe but the Irish monks fused these influences together and made it their own form of art, collectively known as Insular art and spreading its influence throughout the British Isles and beyond.
Before the 2020 lockdowns, I had decided to learn the craft of Insular art by reproducing some of the original artists’ creations. The process started by learning how to create pigments such as copper verdigris, orpiment, red lead, woad, and iron oak gall, which are mostly synthetically reproduced nowadays due to their toxicity. I then became interested in using these new skills to recreate illuminations from manuscripts that were damaged by time. I got in touch with a Dr. Bill Endres of the University of Oklahoma who is an advanced imaging technician, and was the person who digitised the St. Chad Gospels dating from about 730ad. With his help of digital spectral analysis and reflective transformation imagery, I was able to recreate the illuminated page and retrieve designs and art that was faded to nothing for over a thousand years.
The pieces presented in the library are two reproductions using traditional methods and home-made pigments, and one contemporary carpet page using mainly traditional methods.
Gallery
