Touched by his wife’s cancer journey, Wicklow artist Patrick Walshe has produced a collection of 15 paintings detailing the experience of bearing witness to the effects of cancer treatment.  These paintings form Nocturnes: A chemotherapy vigil. Patrick says the paintings are an expression of the helplessness of the one who can only watch. In a wonderful act of generosity, Walshe has donated the entire collection to the Marie Keating Foundation with the proceeds of their sale going to support the Foundation’s Survive and Thrive programme. The entire collection is below. You can read more about what inspired the collection and how their sale will support the Foundation here.

 

Patrick recently did an interview on Fox News about his wife’s cancer journey and how it inspired him to create this collection of paintings. You can watch the interview here.

 

In his own words, Patrick says, “This group of paintings came about as a result of being witness to a loved one going through the catharsis of cancer treatment. The experience for us both was to bring out the love so often taken for granted in a lifetime relationship and stimulated me to convert the helpless impotence I felt into this narrative series. Cancer for most people is just a bogeyman concept until the day he turns up at your home and moves in without ceremony.  These paintings are about hope even in one’s darkest hour, but it is surely at 4am that our most anxious prayers are uttered.”