Abandoned and forgotten, exposed to the whims of the Irish weather that worked on them over the years, these buildings became part of my daily life. At that time, Dublin reminded me of an onion-like city. The paint on the buildings flaked, cracked, and peeled away, revealing layers beneath the surface. I became obsessed with everything that needed care but was ignored. “If I don’t use it,” I thought, “the weather will destroy it anyway.”

In 2013, I began my project: “Shaving Off the Past” “Unpeeling the City.”
I used the streets as a donor of materials for my art. Peeling paint and plaster revealed layers of history. Each place had its own unique colours and story. I often scraped off paint and plaster that no longer adhered to the surface or collected pieces lying on the ground. I brought them to my studio, cleaned them, dried them, and preserved them on canvas. Then I tried to revitalise them.

Sometimes I collected materials late at night after work, other times during the day on my way to the park. From afar, I could smell the Guinness factory and breathe in the atmosphere of pubs that never closed but grew like plants along the narrow pavements, spreading through the city. All of this shaped my experience of the place and its unique character.