Étaín

Nina's contribution to the DRAWDA festival in Drogheda, Ireland was a special one, she was given the Irish mythological story of Étaín, to make her own visual representation of this complex story.

Étaín was a beautiful woman who got cursed and transformed into a scarlet fly. This is the glowing insect you see in the middle of my painting, a ‘scarlet fly’ with a little twist. In the very end of the story, over a thousand years have passed and Étaín has transformed many times, she flies away with her lover and they are seen as two swans. In my composition I tried to show protection and love, elements that are a part of this story.

DRAWDA is produced by Droichead Arts Centre, and LOVE Drogheda BIDS, with curators Dee Walsh and Brian Hegarty, funded by the Arts Council of Ireland under In the Open | Faoin Spéir Initiative, Louth County Council, Love Drogheda BIDS and Town & Village Accelerated Measures funding. It is supported by The d Hotel, Murtagh’s of Drogheda and Colour Trend Paints.

Working together with local, national and international artists, and mythologist Anthony Murphy, to deliver six murals based on some of the key figures from Irish Mythology who are rooted in the Boyne Valley region, the project will be delivered across a number of strands which will draw on Drogheda’s significant rich heritage, mythology and architecture.