User:Raisongeon/sandbox

Early life and Family.
Mary Farl Powers was a contemporary artist renowned for her work in print, cast paper and paper sculptures, with various works stored in the IMMA. Powers’ is noted as distinguished for her ‘calligraphic quality’, addressing the nature of being and materiality abstractly through her art, stating “I don’t create the image of the thing but, I hope, a thing in itself” Born November 29th, 1948 in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, USA, to a heritage of Irish and German ancestry. The second child among five siblings (Katherine Anne, James Ansbury, Hugh Wahl and Jane Elizabeth), born to parents James Farl and Betty Wahl Powers. Both parents, hailing from Illinois and Minnesota respectively, were notable writers who first ventured to Ireland in the early 1950’s in search of a home more friendly to writers. Mary’s art career received “no encouragement” from her family and was rather a product of will.

Ireland and the United States
the Powers family led a nomadic lifestyle, survived me illustrated by her sister Katherine Anne’s writing. The family moved every few years between Ireland, namely Greystones and Dalkey, and the United States, (between Minnesota and Massachusetts). In May 1975, Powers’ parents made the decision to settle permanently in the United States and continue their writing careers. However, Mary chose to stay in Ireland, as her artistic career was beginning to gain recognition in the country. She would spend the remainder of her life in Ireland, between Dublin and Belfast.

Education
During her early years, Powers’ studied liberal arts for a year at University College Dublin, before transitioning to pursue her passion for Art at Dún Laoghaire technical school (IADT), and later, etching and sculpting at the National College of Art in Dublin, the NCAD following a four-year scholarship. Alongside her artistry, Power’s served as prop maker for Dublin’s theatres. She also studied ceramic sculpture at Saint Cloud’s state college Mary joined the graphic studio collective of printmakers in the early 1970’s, becoming director toward the end of the decade.

Personal Life
Powers would contribute to the founding of the artist affiliation, the Aosdána, serving as ‘Toiscearacht’ (board member) During this time, Power’s formed a relationship with poet Paul Muldoon, who would later pen the poem ‘Incantanta’ in her honour posthumously.