Deirdre Stephens is a textile artist living in Cois Fharraige, Connemara, specializing in free-machine embroidery. She makes work inspired by her surroundings – the seashore and bogland close to where her studio is situated. Her artwork is unique in its textural and layered aspects – a combination of paint, mixed media and stitch. She is interested in disintegration and transformation as they occur in the environment and brings these same processes into her work. Her techniques include melting, dissolving and distressing materials to reflect changes in the natural world due to human intervention.
Each new artwork goes through a series of transformations as layers of paint, cloth, paper, threads and whatever comes to hand are combined, stitched and recombined through a process of improvisation and experimentation.
Deirdre is currently making work based on the present day status of the Connemara bog complex, supported by Ealaín na Gaeltachta.