200 projects were shortlisted from over 5,280 entries from 82 countries for the World Illustration Awards. And we’ve unearthed some green jersey connections who are happy to wrap a flag around them for us.
Back for the Future is a collaboration New York-based, Spanish-Irish artist Carles G.O’D has made for Save the Med foundation. “They knew about my work with activist art projects about abortion rights and tourism and commissioned me to do one about their Foundation, which works relentlessly to abolish single-use plastics, educate the population, and protect more marine areas in my homeland, Mallorca,” he explains.
As for the connection, he explains “I’m Irish on my mother’s side. My dad is Spanish and I was born and raised in Mallorca. I grew up speaking English with my mom and would either spend the summer with my cousins in Cavan or have them come to the island.”
Also shortlisted is, Barcelona-based, Ciara Quilty-Harper for her work on Lemon Yellow, her book of sixty hand-drawn illustrations and three direct narratives on empathy and colour. “Colour is an experience and yet we often take it for granted that our experience is universal. Each narrative walks us through a different house, following a disagreement between two people on aspects of a specific colour, reminding us to think twice about what shapes our perspectives when we don’t see eye to eye.”
And when it comes to the connections, Ciara tells us, “I was born in the UK and now live in Barcelona, but my mother is from Ireland – she was born near Dublin, my grandmother on The Curragh and grandfather near Limerick. The family moved to London for work, and after about 17 years my grandparents went back and my mother and her siblings stayed on. My father’s maternal side were also from Ireland but a bit further back. It’s a big part of mine and my family’s identity.”
