Mary Little

Hedgerow Series

2024

Hedgerows are a historical and cultural artifact throughout all of Ireland, serving to protect from the winds, and dividing the land into its characteristic small fields. Many are centuries old consisting of a richness of plants that come into flower at different times as the seasons pass. They are part of the landscape's heritage.

Hedgerows serve here as a metaphor for this series of works. It too has a heritage, with ideas rooted in my works from the last decade, which in turn have grown from decades of creating sculptural furniture. And, before that, growing up watching my mum knitting her Aran sweaters, she would in turn watch her mother making clothes on a treadle-powered Singer sewing machine.

The lineage of characteristics from previous works is deep. For example, Holly is from O’Connor, via O’Casey, and further back is related to O’Halloran from the 2016 Ennis series. The character of Hawthorn grows from many in my Inch series, and more recently works from from the Lee series. While Yew has its roots in AnneJane from my Aran series.

 Each single work in Hedgerow has grown out of and is interrelated to, its predecessors.