By David Krogh
Painting Through the Dark is a new book by Portland author Gemma Whelan. (The “G” in Gemma is pronounced “J”). Appropriately named, it takes the reader on a challenging journey through the eyes of Ashling, a 21-year-old Irish girl seeking to escape abuses of the Catholic Church in Ireland and family expectations that she become a nun, while at the same time gaining self-confidence and personal freedom. She dreams about becoming a successful artist and her personal journey towards this is reflected in her paintings.
Whelan is an Irish born theater director and instructor. After moving to San Francisco from Ireland, she both attended graduate school and became involved in stage production, directing and instructing. She has written screenplays and short films and has graduate degrees from UC-Berkeley, San Francisco State University and Trinity College in Dublin. The author is also the Founding Artistic Director for the Corrib Theatre, a contemporary Irish theater company in Portland.
Ashling, the primary character in her book, was based in part on Whelan’s own experiences, saying, “Yes, in the sense that I also came to this country at 21 with hardly any resources, so I drew on that experience.” As there was a strong negativity towards the Irish Catholic Church by Ashling, did she experience that as well? “The abuses by the Catholic Church began to emerge in the 80’s but it took a while to lay bare the extent of the damage done by religious institutions. In my own life, I started to question the dominance of the church when I was a teenager, and to reject the hold it had over people in Ireland.”
The primary theme of the book, however, is not a treatise on the Irish Catholic Church. Rather it is an examination of Ashling confronting her fears and gaining confidence in herself and her abilities, both via her paintings and her actions with the family whom she stays with in northern California. Whelan agrees, “Yes, Ashling grows as an artist and a human during those intense months and reaches the point where she has the tools to make the best decision for her life going forward.”
Besides successfully exploring her own personal growth (which included her creating a series of dark and abstract paintings about Alcatraz), Ashling is also able to successfully turn around the dysfunction within the family she’s staying with. From the book, “her Alcatraz series was an expression of what her insides were like as she wandered through this strange house posing as a normal human being.” (This is a clue as to where the name of the book originated.)
Painting Through the Dark is an interesting read with actions that are always changing, including an unexpected surprise climax. And despite her many flashbacks to negative religious experiences, Ashling’s greatest threat is amazingly the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the limitations of her visitor’s visa.
The book seems primed for a sequel with Ashling determined to return to the states and attend a graduate arts program. However, the author indicates, “I have no plans for a sequel at this time. Of course, that might change in the future!” At present Whelan is working on a different novel and “am also actively enrolling people for Corrib Theatre’s Irish Theatre Tour, summer 2024, which my husband Adam and I co-lead. We still have spaces left: corribtheatre.org/irish-theatre-tour.”
Painting Through the Dark was published by Shangana Press and is available locally at Backstory Books and Yarn (SE Hawthorne), Belmont Books (SE Belmont) and Powell’s Books. It can also be found online at Amazon.
Painting Through the Dark is Whelan’s second novel. Her first novel, Fiona: Stolen Child, is about a young Irish woman and her reliving of childhood traumas. This book is also available at many local independent booksellers and on Amazon.
For additional information on the author, her works and background, visit gemmawhelan.com.
Author Gemma Whelan in Ireland co-leading a tour for the Corrib Theater. Photo credit: Gemma Whelan.
