A reading of Catherine McWilliams' paintings that situates her career within the political landscape of Northern Irish cultural identity and the conflict. Wallace argues that Mc Williams' work provides an invaluable contribution to picturing life in Belfast from a particularly female point of view. The paintings on display focus on school girls, dinner ladies, play grounds and children, shifting the focus of so-called 'troubles art' away from the spectacle of violence and victimhood to include the marginal and the everyday. This essay was published on the occasion of Mc Williams' retrospective titled 'Catherine McWilliams: Selected Work 1961-2021' at F.E. McWilliam Gallery, Banbridge (2023). The retrospective was co-curated by Wallace and Dr. Riann Coulter.
Louise Wallace (Wed,) studied this question.