Art, advocacy and dance come together in Ramor exhibition

When Dr Jean Antoine-Dunne launches her solo exhibition Inscapes / Exscapes / Landscapes at the Ramor Arts Centre on 12 March at 7pm, the evening will blend art, activism and deeply personal storytelling — including a specially choreographed dance performance inspired by the paintings.

For the Munterconnaught-based artist, who lives overlooking Lough Ramor directly across the lake from Virginia, the exhibition represents far more than a collection of paintings. It is the culmination of a life lived between Trinidad and Ireland, between academia and art, and between private struggle and public advocacy.

The exhibition brings together 40 oil paintings ranging from monumental six-foot canvases to intricate miniatures just a few inches wide. Moving through landscape and figure, realism and surrealism, the work reflects Jean’s long-standing fascination with inner and outer worlds.

“I start from realism,” she explained, “but the paintings often shift. They take on something more emotional, sometimes spiritual. I embed feeling into the landscape.”

Jean’s home is a 200-year-old former gatekeeper’s lodge nestled between woodland and water. On one side lies Lough Ramor. On the other are dense woods that mirror those seen from Virginia town. The setting has become central to her work.

“I paint the woods a lot,” she said. “Landscape is not just physical. It carries history, memory, emotion.”

Originally from Trinidad, Jean grew up in what she describes as the busiest town imaginable, surrounded by constant movement and energy. Her father ran two businesses and life was fast-paced and vibrant.

In 1977 she married Irish teacher Seamus Dunne and moved to rural Cavan.

“There were three houses on the road,” she recalled. “I had grown up in noise and bustle. Suddenly I was living in extraordinary silence.”

The cultural shift was profound. She immersed herself in community life through drama, poetry recitation and the ICA, eventually returning to academia. She completed a doctorate in film and modern literature at UCD as a Newman Scholar, researching the relationship between literature and montage in the work of Samuel Beckett and Derek Walcott.

She lectured in English and film studies in Ireland before later returning to Trinidad to establish a university film programme.

Throughout it all she painted.

It was during retirement, and particularly throughout Covid, that she returned to oil painting with renewed intensity.

The exhibition unfolds across four thematic sections.

The first draws on the woods around Lough Ramor, embedding the landscape with a sense of layered time. The second confronts global conflict, including a powerful six-foot by six-foot canvas responding to Gaza. T

he third centres on family, particularly her daughter Eileen, who has long been Jean’s primary model. The fourth explores the female figure in a series reflecting different stages of being.

“People tell me my work is very literary,” she said with a smile. “That is my background.”

Yet it is Jean’s life beyond academia that gives Inscapes / Exscapes / Landscapes much of its emotional force.

When Eileen was born 46 years ago, attitudes towards Down syndrome were very different.

“There was very little understanding,” Jean said. “Very little support. People simply did not talk about it.”

Instead of retreating, Jean and her late husband became advocates. He later served as national president of Down Syndrome Ireland and together they founded the Cavan branch. Jean edited the organisation’s magazine and worked tirelessly to promote integration in education and community life.

“We spent our lives fighting for inclusion,” she said. “We wanted our children in mainstream schools, in mainstream society.”

Eileen attended mainstream education and grew into a confident and independent adult. She later served as an ambassador for Down Syndrome Ireland and remains deeply involved in community life, from artistic swimming in Trim to regular dance sessions.

It is that spirit of visibility and belonging that will animate the exhibition opening.

The launch night will feature a specially choreographed ten-minute performance by The Barn Door Company, most of whose members have Down syndrome, including Eileen. The piece has been created by choreographer Nessa O’Reilly and interprets elements of the paintings through movement.

The dancers blend contemporary styles with Latin influences such as salsa and cha cha. Eileen will open the performance with a brief Caribbean-inspired solo reflecting her Trinidadian heritage, while another dancer, Fintan Bray, chair of the National Advisory Council, will perform a dramatic segment responding to the exhibition’s section on Gaza.

“It is only 10 minutes,” Jean said. “We do not want to overshadow the art. But it will be beautiful.”

Breffni Blues Special Olympics Club will also raffle one of Jean’s paintings during the exhibition, with the artwork on display on the night.

For Jean, the exhibition is ultimately about presence — and about being seen. Whether through vast landscapes layered with memory, intimate portraits of her daughter, or the embodied movement of the dancers on opening night, the message is one of visibility and inclusion.

“We fought for our children to be part of the world,” she said. “To be visible. To be included. This exhibition, in its own way, is part of that same journey.”

Inscapes / Exscapes / Landscapes opens at Ramor Arts Centre, Virginia, on 12 March at 7pm, with a special performance by The Barn Door Company. One of Jean’s paintings will be raffled on the night in aid of Breffni Blues Special Olympics Club. All are welcome.