Roisin Fitzpatrick understands that an artist’s job is sometimes to make the near miraculous look easy. By taking risks and branching out both personally and artistically, the artist can brings us to a deeper understanding of what it means to be alive in the world too.

A County Wicklow native, Fitzpatrick’s rise in the art world here in New York has been nothing short of meteoric. This month her latest exhibition is on public display at the Consulate General of Ireland in New York on Park Avenue (just call ahead to make a viewing appointment, but know that all are welcome to do so).

“I work with crystal and silk on artworks that bring the viewer into closer contact with their deeper selves or a deeper level of knowing,” Fitzpatrick tells the Irish Voice. “I believe my work, some of which in this exhibition have been inspired by spiral patterns of Newgrange (the prehistoric monument located in County Meath) and the legends of the Tautha de Dannan help to restore us, bring us back to ourselves, in the way that only art can.”

Fitzpatrick’s own story is an inspiring in its way as her artwork. In 2004 she suffered a brain hemorrhage that led to a near-death experience. As she fought for her life in a hospital bed it was meditation that helped her move beyond the fear, and the lesson of that trauma – to exist in the now, to stay fully conscious and connected – has remained with her and inspired her work. 

Before concentrating on her art, which she calls her passion, Fitzpatrick was already an accomplished academic with degrees in business and international relations. She’s as comfortable discussing international economic relations as she is discussing what makes us most fully ourselves, a rare ability in an artist.

But an unwelcome brush with mortality in own her life taught her something that her art seeks to share with the viewer now: live all you can, it’s a mistake not to; be alive and connected to your best self, and to others. Find your peace and share it.

It’s a message that has resonated with all those who have come into contact with Fitzpatrick’s work, which has included luminaries like writer Deepak Chopra, actress Roma Downey and American Ireland Fund Chairperson and art champion Loretta Brenna Glucksman (who has helped steer Fitzpatrick through the complex New York social and artistic networks).

Roisin Fitzpatrick, Artist of the Light is now on view at the Consulate General of Ireland. To learn more about the artist visit www.artistofthelight.com