Barberyn

Like Ireland, Sri Lanka is an island nation. Similar in size, yet defined by an entirely different tropical climate from the changeable and often inclement weather to which I am accustomed.

I first discovered this remarkable island more than twenty years ago and quickly fell in love with its culture and its people. Although I travelled extensively throughout the country during those years, it was never with the intention of creating work there.

For me, Sri Lanka has always been a place of retreat – somewhere to step away from daily life and focus on well-being. Each year I spend time immersed in the ancient practice of Ayurveda, one of the world’s oldest holistic healing traditions.

Yet the island is far richer and more complex than the impressions often portrayed in travel books. Sri Lanka is alive with colour and atmosphere; skies can shift within moments from brilliant tropical blue to brooding gunmetal grey as sun and rain exchange places.

In 2017, after many years of familiarity with the island, the time finally felt right to begin creating work there. I embarked on the series that became Barberyn, spending long days exploring the west coast and its mercurial climate.

These images form part of an ongoing study, and I look forward to returning often to a place for which I hold deep affection – and to which I owe so much.