Having already achieved international recognition with inclusion in National and Academic collections: Des Kilfeather’s, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, represents the continuation of his exploration of James Joyce, ethics, power, apathy and time. Des’s artistic intentions are wide and varied but mostly with the common denominator of social equality, making art available, to enhance the thinking of people, regardless of age, nationality or cultural perspective.

Drawing on his own personal experience of Irish Catholic culture, this Artist's Book was an emotional and reactionary response to his first reading of these texts. Whilst absorbing the narrative in real time Kilfeather made abstract watercolour marks onto pages of the book, photographed them then applied a process of semi-destruction of the book in the sea. Digital photography, water colour painting and the selection of specifically relevant text excerpts establish the connection between Joyce’s early 20th Century, Kilfeather’s critical 1966 and contemporary culture. The texts selected from each page, hopefully, will inspire new readings and interpretations of James Joyce by children through to post doctoral, literature and art, academics.