'I think 70 must be the new 30', says Cork artist Virginia

Two multi-disciplinary artists have recently been awarded joint artists-in-residence positions at Shandon Studios in Cork.

Virginia Giglio and Aoife King both practise visual art and are also musicians with unique approaches to that area.

American artist Virginia, 71, is enjoying a new lease of life since moving to Cork from a small town in Oklahoma six years ago.

She and her husband, Neal Dunnigan, only intended to spend a year here, but after three months, they fell in love with their adopted city.

Both completed their training as lay chaplains in Ireland, having started chaplaincy studies in the US. While Neal practises as a chaplain, Virginia says she has become “entrenched in local activities, civic efforts, and the culture in Cork.”

She finds life by the Lee vibrant and is pleased to say that people gave her a great welcome.

Virginia, who is a specialist in ethnomusicology, has an interest in Native American music, and was a music professor at the University of Oklahoma.

She plays the flute and is chair of the Cork Light Orchestra. She has had businesses as a web designer, a commercial flower grower, and as a seamstress.

“I think 70 must be the new 30,” says Virginia, who certainly has the energy and verve of someone much younger than her age.

“I try very hard to cultivate friendships with young people. They keep you going,” adds this mother-of-four and grandmother-of-five.

Virginia is currently working on an arts project with papier mache.

“I haven’t developed it at home because I’m a little bit of a neat freak. Papier mache requires you to make a mess.

“I want to be messy in the studio as part of my work there, building musical instruments (out of papier mache).”

She is hoping to work closely with Aoife, who is keen to create spaces, like space boxes. People will be able to perform within the boxes, with electronics used to record or enhance the sound. The boxes will be a framework for the instruments.

“We’re still imagining it,” explains Virginia. “What I imagine is taking various materials that we’ll experiment with, using sound, to work on various aspects of the voice.

“For example, if you had something soft in the box, it would absorb a person’s voice while something hard would reflect it.”

Virginia also draws, using pastels and acrylics. And she makes collages using colourful brochures.

“I like to twist and turn my collages, making different shapes.” She recycles paper and materials such as foil.

“Frankly, I don’t want to spend money on expensive paints and canvases. I want to recycle for my own budget. It’s not being virtuous but stingy with money!

“Recycled paper is an infinite source that’s inexpensive or free. If you gather too much of it, you can always recycle it through the regular bins.

“Ever since covid, because of the amount of plastic generated in hospitals, it’s incumbent on the rest of us to be as careful as possible about what we use in our own households. I use crisp bags to make shiny objects, instead of just binning them.”

Full of plans for the year ahead, Virginia is going to give a music recital in the summer and is looking forward to collaborating with Aoife on the sound instruments.

Aoife, 25, describes herself as an experimental composer and multidisciplinary artist. She completed her BA in music studies at MTU Cork School of Music in 2022, and is currently working on her Masters in music composition.

In her work, Aoife incorporates multiple art forms such as visual art, physical movement, film, and theatrical elements.

Being neurodivergent, Aoife’s work includes concepts such as connection, inclusivity, neurodiversity and mental health. She is “delighted” to have free studio space for three months courtesy of the award of the artist-in-residency at Shandon Studios.

“It’s so hard to find space in Cork to be creative,” said Aoife. “My accommodation is tiny and whenever I have an artistic project to do, I take over the whole living room.”

As part of her musical practice, Aoife uses contact mics. “They’re like small circular discs. You put them onto an object and the microphone takes the vibrations of the object and makes it into sound.”

Aoife is currently working on a commission for Crash Ensemble. It will be premiered at New Music Dublin, a festival of experimental music, in April 2025.

While music is a big focus for Aoife, she says visual art “has become like a safe space for me to express myself. When you’re studying music, you can become very critical of yourself so visual art is my outlet. The two art forms have morphed together.

“For my music degree, I took modules in costume design and set design which are on the drama degree.”

Aoife feels well-matched with Virginia.

“We’ve been chatting about how we both have similar backgrounds in music and how we’d like to make different instrumentation and incorporate visual art,” said Aoife.

“At the moment, as part of my Masters, I’m working on sculptures that people can walk into and do vocal improvisations. You’d have acoustics in those sculptural spaces.”

When Aoife completes her Masters degree in the summer, she would ideally like to work with community groups.

She currently works with an inclusive music ensemble whose members have mixed abilities and disabilities. It’s in collaboration with the ETB (Education and Training Board) and COPE Foundation.

“I love being in the ensemble,” said Aoife. “It was a module I took as part of the Cork School of Music degree. I decided to stay involved. It’s a really incredible group of people.”

It sounds like Aoife, like Virginia, has got more than one string to her bow.