HOLLY MULLARKEY
Ceramic Artist
Deora Dé
Materials: porcelain, video, organic materials
Clay Galway Exhibition, 2020
Deora Dé means “tears of God” and is inspired by the fuchsia flower’s tear-like form. Building on this image of nature weeping, ceramic artists Holly Mullarkey and Emma O’Toole created porcelain tear boats to carry the sorrow and stories of Mother and Baby Home survivors.
Deora Dé, also called Tear Boats, is a collaboration between Holly Mullarkey, Emma O’Toole, and survivors of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home, in conjunction with Clay Galway and supported by the advocacy of Breeda Murphy. Conceived as an offering to the survivors, the porcelain boats serve as vessels of grief—carrying individual stories and sorrows toward the healing ocean.
To honour the unceremonious burial of 798 infants, Holly created a video installation in which the porcelain boats are carried away and gradually dissolved, symbolically surrendering to the tide of healing time.
