Ciara Reilly Portfolio

Ciara Reilly
Portfolio

Featured Work

Inhertiance

I take my inspiration from my family. This can take so many different forms as it comes on a subconscious level. I chose to explore the theme through a series of digital drawings of my families eyes. When seen together it has this sense of familial recognition. Visualising the family tree through a specific facial feature that's passed down through generations was the main goal of this series. I made intentional decisions through this process as I wanted the painting to be looking at the viewer, capturing them in a moment of time.
Growing up I was surrounded by stories of local folklore, stories about banshees, fairies and of headless horseman. I was told not to put a mirror in front of a window unless I wanted to invite someone in, was told that fairies can appear in the top corners of a room and can be seen only sometimes by certain people. One of the stories that stuck with me was the story of fairy trees. Fairy trees are incredibly rare and are mostly found in the very centre of a field, standing alone. It is as the name suggests where the fairies live. I was brought up to treat others with the respect you want to be treated and this is more true for fairies. Anything you do to fairies will come back to you tenfold. So the fairies should always be treated with respect. With this in mind, folklore and fairytales became apart of my practise aswell as my family.
It is this concept that I was brought up with that shaped who I am today.
I wanted to capture this heritage of my family. Seeing the inherited features change down the family tree visualises the stories being told.
You can tell so much by someone's eyes and this is what I wanted to capture. Showing not only the physical form but the mutual respect we have for each other, and always will have.

Transformation

This body of work explores death not as an end, but as an enduring transformation-
-an unseen yet omnipresent force
woven into the rhythms of existence. Through a feminist and spiritual lens, I reimagine mythological and religious narratives that have long positioned women as villains, witches, or monsters. Figures such as Eve, Lilith, and Medusa—cast out, demonized, or silenced-
-are recentered as witnesses of their
own erasure and resilience. My paintings aim to restore their voices, interrogating the cultural forces that vilify feminine autonomy and wisdom.
Inspired by earth-based spiritualities and communal rituals like covens and keening, my work invites viewers to consider death not with fear, but with reverence. Within these traditions, death is a cycle deeply feminine, rooted in nature, and symbolically intertwined with birth and rebirth. I approach the canvas as both altar and archive, layering visual ambiguity, shadow, and texture to evoke the blurred lines between memory and forgetting, original and copy, sacred and profane.
Using digital painting as a feminist act of reclamation, I challenge the authority of historical narratives and artistic traditions. My method bridges research and practice, myth and modernity-transforming classical iconography into visual resistance. By reinterpreting mythic women at the moment of rupture before transformation, exile, or violence—I seek not only to honor what was lost, but to create space for what might still be reclaimed.
This project is both remembrance and resistance: a confrontation with silence, a celebration of survival, and a reclamation of power through myth, death, and digital ritual.

Artist Statement

Ciara, originally from Cavan, is a dynamic and passionate artist celebrated for her captivating creations in digital illustration. As a freelance illustrator, she has honed her skills and expertise, demonstrating versatility and talent in bringing stories to life through her artwork.
With an unwavering commitment to mastery, Ciara fearlessly explores new techniques and mediums, constantly expanding her creative horizons, having experience working with many mediums from watercolour, acrylic and mixed media. Through her engaging social media presence on platforms like Instagram and YouTube, she shares her process and insights, inviting viewers into immersive worlds filled with adventure, magic, and boundless imagination. With her dedication and talent, Ciara continues to leave a lasting impact in the world of visual art.
My work explores death not as a finality, but as an enduring, intrinsic force woven into existence. Within witchcraft, paganism, and earth-centered spiritual practices, death is seen as a transformation rather than an end—a natural return to the earth that is honored rather than feared. My work seeks to illuminate this perspective, challenging conventional narratives that cast death as something ominous and those who understand its nature-particularly women— as figures of fear, dismissal, or condemnation.
A central focus of my work is the communal nature of these traditions, particularly the solidarity found within covens—a gathering of women who share a reverence for nature's cycles and collective empowerment. Historically, witchcraft has symbolized autonomy and knowledge, and within these circles, death is approached with tenderness and complexity.
Women have long been both life-bringers and wisdom-keepers, yet patriarchal societies have often vilified their roles. By celebrating these traditions, my art seeks to reclaim a space for those erased by history.
This perspective leads me to examine how death, both literal and metaphorical, has shaped the suppression of women labeled as "witches." Accused of witchcraft for roles that disrupted the patriarchal order—healers, midwives, and community leaders—these women faced violent erasure, their identities reduced to symbols of villainy and fear. My work seeks to embody this erasure, visualizing the intangible loss of their stories, wisdom, and voices.
To reflect this complex interplay of presence and absence, I create paintings that exist in a state of visual paradox. If a painting is photographed but never seen, does it truly exist? This mirrors the historical narratives of so-called "witches": if no one witnessed their actions, did they ever happen, or were they projections of societal fears? Through layered textures, partial transparency, and shadowed figures, I invoke the lost histories of these women, emphasizing how memory both preserves and erases.
Keening women, once respected for guiding others through grief, were later twisted into the myth of the banshee—a fearsome, malevolent spirit. These women embodied a form of spiritual caregiving outside the dominion of male priests, offering communal healing in ways that patriarchal structures could not. My work seeks to reclaim these lost narratives, confronting the forces that erase and vilify the unknown and the feminine. In doing so, I invite viewers to consider the silent resilience of those who have been obscured yet continue to endure through the legacies they left behind.