Orla Barry’s work is rooted in language and is driven by the tension between visual and literary representation. The artist composes poetic prose - textual fragments that bring together philosophical meditations, casual thoughts, biographical facts as well as fictional elements and (nonsensical) associations. In her photographic series, publications, films and performances, Barry dwells on themes such as linguistic intoxication, proximity and distance, melancholy and frivolity, friendship and family relationships, the things that bring us together and those that keep us apart.
Orla Barry’s “The Scavenger’s Daughters” is an ambiguous portrait of two sisters, these sisters might represent 'sisterhood', they could also be lovers or two opposite aspects of one mind: the intellectual as opposed to the corporeal, adult versus adolescent, a world of reason opposed to a world of play. This epic text weaves together three monologues, constantly failing to form a narrative dialogue. but creating an excess of meaning and of images. The title refers to the act of scavenging of words, ideas, food and emotions. Barry’s poetic writing and theatrical performance unfold a fictional narrative concerned with intimate relationships and the inability to communicate, providing a unique visual & physical experience of language.