My name is Ailbhe Wheatley and I am a writer and visual artist based in East Clare.

My background in yoga teaching, literature and philosophy informs my artistic practice, which explores themes of interrelationship and embodiment.

Inspired by journeys both inner and outer, figures of speech and creatures of all kinds, my art reflects my love of play. It is influenced by my childhood growing up in the wilds of Ireland, and a series of adventures (and misadventures) whilst living abroad.

I am currently working on a collection of paintings, essays and poems centred around the heartspace — the quiet unknown that sits between mind and body, past and present, self and other, time and timelessness, becoming undone and being made whole. These ‘picture stories’ are observations of that eternal landscape – an inner, open field as imaginary and real as it is felt.

artist statement:

When I paint I am poised, swept into the colours, waiting for that tiny moment of affirmation when the world makes sense again. My visual practice is a way to dream up or reimagine an ideal, but it is never too far away from the senses.

When I write, I am feeling it all, rummaging my way through a flurry of thoughts and feelings.

I write to release. I make art to step out of my current experience, if only very briefly.

The basis of my practice is storytelling. This is a multidimensional practice which incorporates poetry, drawing, movement, photography, performance and.. listening. It is, in its essence, a conversation with the world.

Creation becomes a means of peeling back the layers, an inner experience drawn through the imagination.

All is rooted in the wild - in the wild home of the heart, or the mystery of a feather.

CV

Ailbhe Alanna Wheatley
b. 1996, London U.K

currently based in rural Ireland

Contact
Email: ailbhewheatley96@hotmail.com
IG: @albalanna

Education

2022 - 2023: MA Authorial Illustration, Falmouth University (Distinction)

2015 - 2019: BA English Literature, Trinity College Dublin

Exhibitions & Practice

Solo Exhibition, Joli, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7 – August 2023 (forthcoming)

Illustration Artist, Hive Poetry Journal – August 2025 issue; licensed five original drawings for publication

Featured Performance Artist, Moving Earth, facilitated by Linda Schirmer (Artist-in-Residence, Interface Inagh, Connemara) – June 2025

Lead Poet, Thresholds and Traditions, a Poetry Ireland event at the Mountshannon Arts Festival – May 2025; performed new and archival poems from upcoming collection

Solo Art Exhibition, Evolution – part of Mountshannon Arts Festival – 2025

Film Collaboration – Em-BOG-iment (2024): poetic performance piece set in the boglands of East Clare, created with filmmaker/producer Tony Whelan

Artist-in-Residence, Eramboo Artist Environment, Sydney, NSW, Australia – December 2023

Workshop Leader & Mentor, Drawing the Imagination: intuitive drawing and visual metaphor workshop series – Eco Park, Cornwall – 2022–2023

Work in Progress – Unmapped: a personal exploration of identity shaped by language, culture, and landscape – 2023–present