Irish Moss of a Dead Man’s Skull

An alchemical ode to the inherent healing power of abstract art.

Irish Moss of A Dead Man’s Skull is an alchemical portfolio; an ode to light, colour, loss, and the elements. It is also a fierce meditation on the inherent healing power of abstract art. Visual artist Nuala Clarke explores three bodies of her work (or “healings”) and through them, navigates an ever-deepening awareness of the mystery of being and painting; demonstrating that such awareness is both an essential requirement for—and the innate result of—abstraction.

Clarke reflects upon her relationship with four Roberts—Irwin, Brown, Chender, and Boyle—examining how each Robert illuminates the path of her practice. In their own ways, the four Roberts demonstrate and encourage her investigation into the relationship between creative force and abstraction, what it requires, and where one must fearlessly travel to do so. Equally conveyed in her words and paintings, Clarke delicately unfolds the vibrant alchemical process as practiced while an artist paints, loves, swims, forgets, remembers, and rests in dream.

Beautifully crafted, Irish Moss of A Dead Man’s Skull is 216 full-colour uncoated pages, with 86 images, sewn binding, and luxurious five-inch French flaps. It is both of and about the words and images within—a small installation to marvel through on the train, in the tub, or, perhaps, just before a refreshing swim in the Irish sea.

Praise

“Nuala Clarke draws deeply on the unseen and ineffable world in her art and writing, and practices a sort of magic which allows and provokes us to see what might otherwise be hidden from our view.”

—Robert Chender, Guide, teacher, student, flâneur

“A soulful and sensorial odyssey into the imaginative realm and cultivation of an artist’s inner life. A threshold for readers.”

—Steven Corsano

Author

Nuala Clarke is an abstract painter living in the west of Ireland. Her work is shown throughout the world and has been supported through grants from The Arts Council, Ireland. She is engaged in a multidisciplinary research project into Robert Boyle and the healing probabilities of abstract art. The Robert Boyle Foundation commissioned a series of paintings to honour Robert Boyle for the John Sterne Library, Trinity Medical School at St James Hospital, Dublin. Her book, Radiating Outward, Incrementally: A Manual (The Owl Circus), in collaboration with Crystal Gandrud, is now available. nualaclarke.com