Their Hands Are Full of Words 

Part of a larger body of work titled The Longest Way Round is the Shortest Way Home, completed during a spring 2026 residency at Base Camp Studios in Seattle, Washington.

2026, hydrostone plaster; series, each 1.5 x 2 in

The drinking of a cup of tea with another person: a seemingly inconsequential daily activity that offers sustenance and a moment of reprieve, but also the potential for human connection. Family stories and secrets, neighborhood gossip, unwarranted advice and premonitions, all shared over a cup of tea and paired with an ominous raise of an eyebrow or a knowing wink. An otherwise quotidian moment, but one in which tidbits of wisdom are exchanged and cultural histories are transferred and reinforced.

Their Hands Are Full of Words is a series of small plaster sculptures cast in the form of used tea bags, each with an attached tag imprinted with a traditional Irish proverb. Titled after a phrase from Eavan Boland’s poem, The Historians, in which the speaker is called upon to say the word "history" and immediately sees, not kings or battles or celebrated historical events, but her own mother and the speaker's mother: ordinary women. Overseers of story and language, they inhabit a history not found in monuments but in the rituals of everyday life.

This work highlights the small but frequent exchanges through which culture and legacy endure; stories told across a kitchen table, bits of advice folded into conversation, proverbs repeated until they become familiar. In these seemingly ordinary moments, culture is shared and preserved.