‘My most ambitious textile and fibre work to date ‘Dare Mighty Things’ (2021-2022), is a large scale, woollen-knitted installation inspired by the design and pattern of the Mars Rover landing parachutes that were used to lower the robotic explorers onto the surface of the Red Planet. By scaling the parachute form from an original 21 meters diameter to a reduced, but still huge 7-meters, my intention is to vest in it a domestic quality; to recreate this otherwise remote object by re-imagining it with the softness and tactility of merino wool – a material we more readily associate with warm, comfortable clothing rather than an object designed for the extremes of inter-planetary exploration. By giving the parachute a domestic, haptically reassuring quality, it is intended to remove it from the domain of quasi-military technology usually associated with masculine themes of competitive conflict. In the domain where exploratory appropriation can be seen as an aspect of toxic masculinity this artwork suggests an alternative, post-feminist outlook towards the exploration of the solar system and the vastness of space.‘ Production of ‘Dare Mighty Things’ generously supported by Bursary Award, Arts Council Ireland