MEETING
Étáin
From an early age, the connection I’ve felt to music has been unlike any other feeling I’ve ever experienced. Sometimes it feels like it’s just pulsing through me – it’s so much a part of me that I can’t disconnect from it.
I’m an only child and I grew up in an isolated part of rural Ireland. When I was younger, I used to get my words mixed up and I’d tell people that I was a “lonely child”. It actually sounds a little sad now, but it didn’t seem that way then. Music kept me company and I never really felt alone with it. Instead, I felt surrounded by it. I felt safe.
In the summer of 2018, I went to an IMRO event with the songwriter Paul WIlliams, and something he said there resonated with what I had experienced throughout my life. He said that songwriting is emotional advocacy; it’s reaching out and making people feel less alone in the world. If only for 3 and a half minutes, a song can make a person feel connected and safe.
That was the moment I decided to pursue my craft. Williams’ words gave me purpose and they continue to inform the ethos that grounds my work. As long as I am making music, I hope that it is keeping someone company – making them feel a little less alone in the world.
Étáin
ART BOOK
20/4 — 9/9/2023
AT AOD ART GALLERY
MORE INFO AT: artistsofdublin@gmail.com
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