Recharge, an exhibition by by Anna MacLeod which is running at Áras Éanna on Inis Oírr until May 9, is the result of a six-week residency which the artist had there in February 2020.

Her time on the most westerly of the Aran Islands coincided with a period of intense Atlantic storms and was just a few weeks before the country went into Covid lockdown in mid-March.

An artist, researcher and educator based in Leitrim Sculpture Centre, Manorhamilton, Anna creates art that responds to the place where she is living and working. During her residency in Áras Éanna, this involved exploring meteorological phenomena, materials, histories, landscapes, ecologies and cultural objects. Her aim is to build socially inclusive, multilayered projects that will inspire co-operative action. Water is a recurring theme.

The smallest of the Aran Islands, with its glacio-karst limestone landscape, is a place where the impact of water is highly visible.

Untapped fresh-water aquifer reserves flow under the island, but changing weather patterns and increased tourism have put pressure on its water sources.

Inis Oírr’s infrastructure struggles greatly during the busy summer months and, as a result, water is shipped in daily by tanker to meet increased needs.

Traditionally, local people harvested rainwater for domestic and farming use, and in response to that legacy of self-sufficiency and conservation, Anna developed a sculptural range of rainwater harvesting solutions that also act as pollination enhancers.

The sculptures she has created are based on Flóra Feirme (Flowers of the Farm), catalogued in the ‘Census Catalogue of the Flora of Ireland’. They are abstractions of the Brlúlán (Burnet Rose), Dédhuilleog (Twayblade) Magairlín an loscáin (Frog orchid) Féar gortach (Quaking grass) and Slánlus (Ribwort plantain).

A flag emblem, hand made by Anna, celebrating the historical and contemporary practices of water harvesting on Inis Oírr will be gifted to the community on Inis Oírr at the end of this exhibition.