of late – Ciara Roche

In her ‘VS’ series, desolate, but glowingly lit, lingerie departments, somewhat reminiscent of the notorious ‘Father Ted’ (S02E11) episode, chart the range and display strategies of the Victoria Secrets’ ‘Sexy’ range. Taped yellow arrows on the floor indicate a one-way-COVID-traffic, supply an escape system. Roche’s funny, cool, dispassionate paintings supply sufficient detail to make complex choices; to order the right SMEG or Dyson product for our ‘ideal’ Instagram moment. If in doubt, to a personal capacity for good taste, we could of course always rely on the aesthetic discipline of IKEA to co-ordinate our interior world – this goes with that.

Tellingly, the artist notes: “This year I moved into my own house; renting from my family meant that I could do a bit more with the house in terms of decorating, changing layouts. This led me to the ‘need’ to spend more time looking at such places as IKEA, various furniture shops, appliance stores, and I think this is what led me on to paint some of these spaces and subjects. Was I painting my aspirations? Perhaps I would have liked to own a coffee machine, but as soon as I made the painting, I no longer felt the desire. Perhaps I never really had the desire at all, and I might be a little annoyed at the world for tricking me into thinking that I did”. [non serviam]

Ciara Roche received an MA from IADT, in 2019 and produced an engagingly significant show, ‘Here and Away’, at the LAB, Dublin in 2019. She presently lives and works, nicely isolated, in rural Co. Wexford.