About the Artist…

Maria Noonan-McDermott is an Irish visual artist and poet from Donegal, based in Kinlough, Co. Leitrim. Her practice is rooted in the Irish landscape and shaped by folklore, memory and storytelling. 

Working across painting and poetry, she creates work that explores the emotional and cultural histories held within rural places. 

Influenced by the Impressionist tradition and by a deep connection to the natural world, Maria’s work studies light, form, atmosphere and the shifting character of the Irish landscape. She is equally drawn to the people and stories embedded within that landscape, the local voices, shared histories, humour, music and mythologies that give a place its soul. 

Storytelling is central to her practice. Her paintings and poems emerge from recollection, observation and imagination, often shaped by the oral culture of rural Ireland and the tradition of the seanchaí. Through colour, mood and narrative suggestion, her work invites the viewer into an encounter with memory, place and feeling.

Maria began her artistic career in Dublin in 1985. After qualifying in Fashion and Design, she returned to education to complete a certificate in visual education and continued on to study Fine Art. She held her first solo exhibition in 1990, beginning a practice that now spans almost four decades and includes 29 solo exhibitions as well as numerous group exhibitions nationally and internationally. 

Recent highlights include the touring solo exhibition Time-Lapse (2022–2026), shortlistings for the John Richardson French Residency Award 2026 and The Earhart Prize 2026,, The Eilish MacBride Award for her poem ‘Aunties’ in the Frances Brown Literary Festival, poetry selections in the ‘Washing Windows’ anthology series and a range of bursaries and residencies supporting the continued development of her work.