Under a Vaulted Sky

Under a Vaulted Sky is a project that germinated from the destruction of an Irish convent and developed into a study of reconstruction of narratives and potentiality.

Under a Vaulted Sky is a long term project based in Ireland. Rowan initially worked closely with a small community of people and their relationship to a deconsecrated Irish convent and its’ abandoned gardens, all of which were marked for demolition. Her collaborators consisted of the convents’ transient residents, its’ previously evicted nuns and her mother whom was raised in a convent. It also considers the struggle and acceptance of those people involved, all knowing that their home and sanctuary would be soon destroyed. As a consequence a long standing, ancient link of this site with nature, worship and propagation was severed. The project looks at our relationship to home and our cultural repetition of the need to control land. It reflects this through the history of women in Ireland and through personal family narrative. This body of work, it consists of portraits, still lives, field documentary and is intertwined with her own performative responses. Many of the works layer historical images with photographic documentary of performances or even sculptures. Past and present collide as various time sensitive narratives overlay one another. This project has been created in an important time in Irish history, when it is separating itself from catholic religion and re-finding its relationship to spirituality. While this system falls apart the remnants of a past can be seen emerging offering a potential for discovery, reflection and new formation.