Tribute to Constance Markievicz, Padraic Pearse and James Connolly.
A portrait carved by Douglas John "D.J." Garrity in the native limestone of France's Loire Vallley of Stephanie de Montsoreau that is part of private collection at Roiffe, France.
Holyoke-born sculptor Douglas John “DJ” Garrity currently makes his home in the West of Ireland in the village of Kenmare in County Kerry.
He recently launched what he calls “The Dublin Easter Rising Project” to create portraits in Dublin, Ireland, of Constance Markievicz, Padraic Pearse and James Connolly in native Irish stone during the run-up to the centennial of the 1916 Easter Rising. For more information on this project and his on-line fund-raising efforts, visit www.djgarrity.com
Q. One thinks of the Irish as story tellers. How do you see yourself as a storyteller in stone?
A. When I think of storytellers in stone it brings to mind people such as Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore who presented us with the abstract theory of democracy in the form of four presidents carved into the side of a mountain or Korzak Zilowkowski who devoted his life creating a colossal tribute to the Sioux war chief, Crazy Horse.
I’m more seeker than storyteller. A guy with more questions than answers chasing down nuances of expression or trying to capture the emotional subtleties found only in the eyes and that often disappear when confronted by the chisel.
As a portrait artist, I walk away from a work when I sense a certain intangible presence emanating from the stone and if a story then remains, it’s not mine as I ideally hope the portrait will carry or convey some aspect of the individual’s personality or persona.
Douglas John Garrity
Q. Can you share the significance for you of three stone portraits you plan to carve and why you want to position them around Dublin?
A. I found my way into this project through a study of Irish sculptors, as both Padraic Pearse’s father James and brother Willie were well known Irish stone sculptors working in Dublin at what is now known as Pearse Street.
Willie was also executed for his part in the Easter Rising. It was through that study I gained knowledge of the back story of the leaders of rising.
One can’t help but be moved by both the humanity and audacious bravery of all those involved in the rising and I believe that Padraic Pearse, Constance Markievicz and James Connolly personify the intellectual, emotional and relentless nature of it.
To read the poems of the rebel Pearse (“The Mother,” “The Wayfarer” or “The Fool”) is to grasp a sense of the humanity involved.
My methods are slow and if time were no object I would have included others such as Helena Moloney or Tom Clarke within the project. It’s significant to complete the portraits in native Irish stone and it would be a privilege to complete the project as it stands.
One of my goals in aggressively promoting this project around the globe through newspaper and radio interviews is to raise awareness and to attract the attention of other stone sculptors within the community that may have an interest in jumping on board to create works relating to additional individuals within the leadership group of the rising.
People such as Tom Clarke, Helena Most think of the Easter Rising in terms of the fighting that occurred at the General Post Office (in Dublin) while people actually fought and died at a number of locations across the City of Dublin and I would like to reflect that within the project.
Q. Constance had Polish roots. How do you plan to depict her? And the other two?
A. Constance participated as an officer and armed combatant during the rising and will be depicted the same as Pearse and Connolly in the “process aesthetic” mode, which is the emergence of the human visage from within the ancient patina and natural contours of stone.
Mount Rushmore and The Crazy Horse Memorial are colossal versions of the this mode. It should also be mentioned that to do a work or even to speak of the rising over here is to enter hallowed space and you best get it right.
Most of my work goes into private collections with the last four in the states obtained by the same collector, but I chose the crowd-funding method and Kickstarter, in particular, for The Dublin Easter Rising Project to insure that I have complete creative and financial control over every aspect of the project.
I also believe that if the project is to be created the impetus should be derived from a community effort. . . .much as The Rising.
Q. You once did sculpting in a home studio in Forest Park. What are your Irish roots and why did you decide to focus your much of your second career on Irish themes?
A. My roots are vague and scattered from counties Cavan to Mayo, as there was little mention from my grandfather concerning his background and my grandmother died when my father was a child. . .so I subsequently claim the entire island as the family seat.
Kilmainham Jail in Dublin where leaders of the Easter Rising were shot.
My interest is with writers, artists and social or political figures from every walk and ethnicity who have struggled creatively, faced adversity or pushed back against oppression.
Ireland has and continues to produce a daunting amount of these individuals both at home and amongst the far flung diaspora who possess that innate ability to inspire and capture the imagination.
When I create a portrait, I have a need to know as much about the individual as possible from every word or brush stroke available and if practical, to walk where they walked and to gain a physical sense of their world.
The Becketts, O’Keeffes, Pearses and Kennedys of the Irish and Irish American world have always been and remain accessible to me and my work leans heavily in that direction.
I feel it’s a privilege to follow this path of Irish related work and have always returned to it and now come to view the failure to leave it from the standpoint of Samuel Beckett — “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Q. How aware were you of your Irish roots growing up in Holyoke? Where did you go to school, and what led you initially into construction?
A. I was born in Holyoke but attended Holy Name in Chicopee for a good portion of grammar school and was well aware and surrounded by my Irish roots and then moved on through the Chicopee public school system.
Construction is a tidy and quick answer to the question of past lives, but the fact of the matter is that I’ve been completely restless in schools, jobs, relationships and geography and have yet to leave that first “career” behind.
Q. How did you end up as a sculptor in residence at Mount Rushmore? What were your responsibilities there and what work come from it?
A. The position as sculptor-in-residence at Mount Rushmore is awarded through a selection committee within the National Park Service based primarily on a body of work and qualifications within the stone sculpture genre.
The work involved establishing a studio on site for training and interpretation purposes as well as being available in a general advisory capacity for matters relating to the mountain and stone sculpture in general.
As I mentioned earlier Mount Rushmore was created in the “process aesthetic” mode of direct stone sculpture, a method that incorporates every aspect of the rough stone including the patina, abstract shapes, blemishes and faults, which all become part of the sculpture and visa versa.
In the case of Mount Rushmore the entire mountain, the talis field at the base of the mountain, the forest and all that surrounds it are inseparable from the sculpture. . . .it’s all one piece.
As a staff member, I had access to the mountain and was able study the work closely and to travel the same footpaths as the original hard rock miners who were slowly transformed into monumental stone carvers. . .the only individuals of their time with that acquired talent.
The biggest take-away for me was the truly humbling experience of standing in the shadow of that mountain and to see the drill marks, foot holds in stone and all the broken bits of a hard days work.
Q. Where do you live now in France, and what is your inspiration there? And you also have a home in Dublin?
When in France, I live in a small village in the West of France called Montsoreau and lease what is known as a troglodyte, which are homes built adjacent to the limestone cliffs of the Loire River Valley.
Portrait of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, in Columbia River basalt created for a botanical garden in Portland, Ore., and now in a private collection.
The homes typically incorporate a series of caves into the living quarters, which promotes a fairly even temperature and remains cool in the summer.
This particular house is walled in and sits at the top of the village overlooking an ancient chateau and the Loire River. I was attracted to the house because of the series of caves, one of them held 52 blocks of “tuffeau,” a local limestone, and more than 400 bottles of wine, which seems like an oxymoron but the stone was soft and excellent for quick studies and the wine a reliable deterrent to overwork.
I’m currently living/working in County Kerry and will be moving over to Dublin to complete The Rising Project.
I typically work in a quarry or stone yard setting but the Dublin project requires a dedicated studio space with a controlled environment and lighting conditions to capture images throughout the creative process.
The images will then be incorporated into the digital and print books derived from the project and comprise a part of the reward segment offered through Kickstarter.
Q. How have you seen Ireland evolve since your first visit at the time of the Peace Accord?
A. In 1998 many of the people I knew and artists I collaborated with had lived and worked both North and South and certain aspects of that experience remained and didn’t require conversation but was palpable.
And at the time, when I crossed from South to North, I didn’t need to see barbed wire to know I crossed a line . . .I don’t feel that as deeply now. . .but I also don’t carry the trauma of past, as my friends surely must.
Q. Would you ever consider doing a sculpture two the two Irishman hanged in Northampton in the 1800s for a murder they did not commit?
A. I was not previously aware of the disturbing story of Halligan and Daley. As far as doing a work related to them I would need to learn more about them personally and to visit the place they were hanged and to walk that forest where their bones had been scattered to answer that question for myself.