The Irish mythological story of Étaín! Mural by Nina Valkhoff in Drogheda, Ireland

April 17, 2022

By Vidar

Muralist Nina Valkhoff

Mural by Nina Valkhoff in Drogheda, Ireland. For the DRAWDA festival, by Love Drogheda and Droichead Arts Centre , curated by Dee Walsh and Brian Hegarty.

Nina Valkhoff: My contribution to the DRAWDA festival in Drogheda, Ireland. This was a special one, I was given the Irish mythological story of Étaín, to make my own visual representation of this complex story. I will not do it justice trying to summarize it here, so I will explain the elements I picked.

Étaín was a beautiful woman who got cursed and transformed into a scarlet fly. This is the glowing insect you see in the middle of my painting, a ‘scarlet fly’ with a little twist. In the very end of the story, over a thousand years have passed and Étaín has transformed many times, she flies away with her lover and they are seen as two swans. In my composition I tried to show protection and love, elements that are a part of this story.

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