Dorothy Cross was born in Cork, Ireland, and today is considered one of Irelands foremost internationally-recognized artists. Cross works in a variety of media including sculpture, photography, and film, addressing themes of cultural and sexual identity, as well as the subconscious.

Cross’ studio has a beautifully open and natural feel to it – the planks of what looks like driftwood stacked against the wall in the back right corner seem to echo the aesthetics of the trees and plants pictured just outside the window. And what a nice window to have in an artist’s studio – it goes from floor to ceiling and appears as though it might also open up as a door to that outdoor space, whether it’s the artist’s property or a more public space.

There’s a lot going on in this studio – a wide variety of different art materials, some very traditional others not so much, seems to spill across every surface. I like the boat or canoe-like structure that hangs from the ceiling above the artist. It reminds me of those floor-to-ceiling sculptural forms in Lara Schnitger’s studio.

Also on the far right side of the image, a wood-framed glass door looks like it opens up into another room in the house. The studio is very open-concept and seems well integrated into the overall architecture of the building that it’s a part of.

Cross has utilized found objects as well as large public structures in her artwork – in one well-known public art piece the artist coated an abandoned sailing ship in luminous paint, creating the effect of a ghostly, glowing ship on a harbour near Dublin. Cross has represented Ireland in the Venice Biennale and has had a major retrospective at the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

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