Irish environmental artist Seán Corcoran has created an incredible piece of sand art on Waterford’s coast. The artist has been in self-isolation for the past 10 days following his return from the Llano Environmental Art Festival (LEAF) in Llano, Texas.
On arrival at Cork Airport, Seán returned home at The Art Hand, the art school that he runs with his wife and has been residing a loft space since.
Seán resides on Waterford’s gorgeous Copper Coast and his wife and two children are remaining downstairs in their family home. They leave meals at the top of the stairs and chat with him via phone.
‘This is like an artist’s retreat for me,’ Seán says. ‘I’m making the most of it, staying busy, pottering at this and that, doing yoga, practising mindfulness, creating some art and making additions to the loft. I’m working on a mosaic that will be installed above the window. Huge respect to my wife Miranda who is doing all the real-world stuff. I was so excited to receive a delivery of a week’s fruit rations!’
Seán was inspired to create sand art on the beach nearby at Kilmurrin Cove and has been doing so the past few years. It’s his own personal gigantic etch-a-sketch and his sand art has been delighting many passers-by in the process.
The Irish artist thankfully experienced no coronavirus symptoms and made his way down the beach in Kilmurrin to express his gratitude to Ireland’s healthcare workers. In his design he replaced the Superman ‘S’ with a medical cross, thanking the nations healthcare staff for being superheroes.
Releasing aerial footage of the artwork on Facebook, Sean paid tribute to ‘all the doctors, nurses and hospital staff for their amazing bravery at this difficult time. The dedication that you are all showing is extraordinary. You are our heroes.’
In a call to action to viewers, he said ‘now it’s our turn to play our part. We need to support the frontline staff by acting responsibly. We need to protect ourselves, our families, our friends, our neighbours and the wider community. We need to stop the spread of this virus. We need to be informed and we need to take this seriously.’
Though the enforced closure of the family business means that their income is reduced for a time, the Irish sand artist believes that his business will recover.
(Images courtesy of Sean Corcoran at The Art Hand/Dónal O’Flynn Media)