Joan Jonas stayed in Dublin in the 1990s, preparing for her first European retrospective at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam “Works 1968-1994: A Retrospective”. During her stay she was introduced to Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, one of the most celebrated writers in the Irish language. Ní Dhomhnaill had recently written a speculative essay titled ‘Mis and Dubh Ruis: A Parable of Psychic Transformation’ and gave Jonas an English translated copy of the tale. Mis, the protagonist of the poem, loses her mind following the death of her chieftain father in battle. She becomes a fearsome wild creature who lays waste to the lands around her and kills all warriors sent to subdue her. The story of Mis particularly appealed to Jonas due to its blend of humour and eroticism. Jonas adapted Ní Dhomhnaill’s poem into a soundtrack for Woman in the Well (1996/2000). 

The main component of the installation is a traditional wishing well. At the bottom, a monitor shows footage of a woman performing several actions under water, while repeatedly returning the viewer’s gaze. Text and image are deliberately disjunctive and reflect, as Jonas put it: ‘A process in which a story from one source or culture comes into contact with another and is caught, separated from origin and altered.’ *

* From ‘Women in the Well: When Joan Jonas Met Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill’, Caoimhín Mac Giolla Léith, Frieze, July 2020.