Interview with Rachel Fallon: “I would hope that my work would encourage people to question their own ideas or narratives, or maybe to look at the world a little differently.”
Rachel Fallon, an Irish artist whose art has supported and campaigned in Ireland for womens rights and minorities. Fallon talks about what influences her practice, her collaborative projects with activists and Irish female artists, and how she views the role of her artworks to women and politics. 
Tell me about yourself!
I live in Dublin with my partner, one of my sons, two dogs and a lizard. I spend most of my time making things, sewing things or reading books. I’m not tidy. I can cook reasonably well. I am bad at telling jokes.
Can you tell us about your artistic practice?
I’m primarily a maker, as in most of my practice is about making things in some form or other. Some of these objects like The Aprons of Power are performative, some are sculptural, nearly all of them are political in some way or another. Deciding what medium to use for each project – whether it is sculpture, performance or drawing – I have always found that the material announce themselves during the development of an idea, it’s like an instinct. The more you work with the core concept of what it is you want to say or make, the more apparent it becomes as to which medium will carry the information best.
What influenced your artist approach?
What influences my artistic approach is politics, other artists and writers who I admire, my own life experience and personal circumstances, and things that make me angry or frustrated.
How do you view the role of your artwork in addressing challenging themes related to women and politics?
Some of my work definitely has an inbuilt form of activism. For example: the Apron works; The Aprons of Power, Aprons of Solidarity, D.I.Y.Aprons were all created in response to political situations and are all performed in public. It is a series of Aprons created with artists and activists campaigning for womens rights and the elimination of violence against women and minorities, including the erasure of LGBTQ+ rights under Viktor Orban. We have performed these progressive pride colour coded Aprons in front of Orbans office at the Sandor Palata in Budapest for International Womens Day in 2024.
The performance work Jelen Vagyok/ I Am Present was created with and commissioned by the Budapest Galeria and the Kiscelli Museum. Now in 2025, all Pride demonstrations have been banned in Hungary, but there will hopefully be another iteration of this performance as part of the OFF Biennial in May 2025 as an act of solidarity.
Are there any stories you came across in your practice that stuck with you?
I’m interested in stories that might be quite ordinary on the surface but can be absurd or surreal when examined. For example, ideas around pronatalism which has become a topic again.
Some years ago, I made a set of Mother Medals based on medals awarded to women particularly in the first half of the 20th century for having a certain number of babies and again, in a monstrous manner for losing your child in warfare. My Mother Medals were created in felt and embroidery and were intended to underline the often-horrendous expectations we put on Mothers and caregivers. Many of these original awards were phased out over the last part of the 20th century but a year or two ago Putin has resurrected this idea with a new medal. It’s also a topic that seems to engage Elon Musk and the silicon valley elite a lot too. Much of what we accept or take for granted in everyday life is actually quite bizarre.
You collaborated with many talented Irish and International artists/ collectives! Can you tell us some key projects you’ve done and what it means to you?
The Artists’ Campaign to Repeal the Eighth Amendment was a really important collective/ movement (set up by Cecily Brennan with Eithne Jordan, Paula Meehan and Alice Maher).
The banners that were created as part of that collaboration with Alice Maher and Breda Mayock were very important to me and along with banners from Áine Phillips and Sarah Cullen, which formed the backbone of the campaigns Repeal! Procession at EVA International biennial in Limerick just 6 weeks before the Referendum to Repeal the Eighth Amendment. It was a wonderful collective effort of artists and dancers such as the Cut-Out Dolls, Dance Limerick and the Ukeladies and it was reported widely in the international press.
Other collaborations close to my heart are The Magdalene Series curated and commissioned by Maolíosa Boyle at Rua Red which led to the creation of The Map – a monumental textile sculpture (6.5m x 4m approx.) with Alice Maher and the commissioning of We Are The Map – Sinéad Gleeson and Stephen Shannon. It also gave me the chance to work alongside the wonderful artists Amanda Coogan, Jesse Jones and Grace Dyas.
What advice would you give to emerging artists exploring similar themes?
If you are creating work with other people about other people, particularly people who are oppressed or marginalized , make sure their voices are front and central. Listen. Make sure you have researched about ethics, consent and how not to be extractive, nobody needs art done to them. Working collaboratively with people in mutual respect is really beneficial for everyone and amazing things can be created.
Image credit: Ros Kavanagh
What projects are you current working on, and what can we expect from you in the future?
I am currently developing work begun on an IMMA Residency in 2023 around colonialism, religion and domestic gardening. Some of these ideas will find their way into an exhibition curated by Debi Paul at her wonderful domestic gallery/dwelling Glanwyr as part of HouseWORK/ HomeWORK later this year. Otherwise, I will be travelling to Budapest with Alice Maher to show our collaborative work The Map as part of the OFF Biennial, The Mantle another collaboration with Alice will be in the textile exhibition ‘Soft Power’ at the RWA in Bristol and I will be heading to Finland on a residency in August.
To contact or learn more about Rachel Fallon’s work, follow her on social media and check his website:
website: Rachel Fallon
Instagram: @rachelfallon3840
Latest Exhibitions
An Túr Gloine: Artists and the Collective
Harry Clarke’s – Stained Glass
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