CAG.3232 Rachel Ballagh, Three Days after Day Fifteen, 2022, oil on linen laid on board, 53 x 63 cm. Purchased, the Artist, 2023. © the artist.

WORK OF THE WEEK!

Three Days after Day Fifteen (2022) by Rachel Ballagh is a public acknowledgement and startlingly honest depiction of a private moment.

The painting is a visual representation of the effects of Radiotherapy on the skin of the breast. ‘What struck me,’ the artist reveals, ‘was the exactness of the targeting and precision of the skin rash that flared up three days after treatment.’

Offering a self-portrait of the artist, Ballagh’s face is surprised by what she – and her body – is witnessing as a result of a specific medical treatment.

Although, as viewers, we may become – or are already – affected by cancer in our lives, it is remarkable how little it is represented in visual art, as opposed to the written word.

Ballagh’s powerful and frank portrait also uses her body’s agency and autonomy to contradict more traditional depictions of the female form. The inclusion of her mobile phone emphasises both the personal technologies available, but also the technological advancements in cancer treatments.

Originally from Dublin, Rachel Ballagh lives and works in East Cork. The daughter of Betty Carabini (1950-2011) and artist Robert Ballagh (b.1943), her work is often semi-autobiographical, exploring notions of identity, mental health, dystopia, and the damage of the Anthropocene era.

A recent addition to the National Collection, Three Days after Day Fifteen (2022) by Rachel Ballagh is featured in BODYWORK until 20 August. The artist’s Back Garden (2021), which is also displayed in BODYWORK, was shortlisted for the Zurich Portrait Prize 2022.

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