Person to Person: Cork artist Joseph Heffernan is taking part in new exhibition

Tell us about yourself:

I am an artist living and working in Cork. I am a member of Backwater Artist Studios and Sample Studios. I studied fine art in the Crawford MTU here in Cork and completed a Masters in NCAD, Dublin in 2016.

I consider myself primarily to be a painter but I also make assemblages and installation type pieces. My work deals with memory, objects, rituals and identity. I have a studio here in the city and exhibit in Cork and nationally.

Where were you born?

I grew up in Boherbue in North Cork.

Where do you live?

In Gurranabraher here in the city.

Family?

My dad is a psychologist and my mom is a retired dental nurse. I have a twin brother who lives in Belfast who’s a historian, and an older brother who also lives in Cork and is a psychologist as well.

Best friend?

I met my best friend when I was studying in the Crawford Art College here in Cork a long time ago.

Earliest childhood memory?

My earliest childhood memory is actually of having my head stuck between two bars in the gate of the parish graveyard. I don’t know what I was doing to end up in such a situation.

Person you most ire?

If it was a famous person, I would have to say Nick Cave, but there are lots of people that I ire in my day-to-day life.

Person who most irritates you?

There are lots and lots of people that irritate me in the world and the leaderboard changes regularly.

Where was your most memorable holiday?

A family holiday to Egypt when I was 15. The Temple of Luxor is amazing.

Favourite TV programme?

My answer here would be a roll-call of HBO’s best programmes from the noughties, I guess. One of the best shows I’ve ever seen is a mini-series called Irma Vep that HBO did a few years ago. Alicia Vikander and Vincent Macaigne are in it. I have yet to meet anybody else who actually saw it.

Favourite radio show?

I don’t listen to the radio much but I like Matt Cooper’s Today FM show whenever I hear it.

Your signature dish if cooking?

I like cooking lamb, but I don’t eat red meat very often for environmental reasons.

Favourite restaurant?

I work in Market Lane part-time, which is great and a great place to work. My late brother worked in Greenes for many years and I have very fond memories of eating there.

Last book you read?

Eliza Clark’s Boy Parts. It’s very funny.

Best book you read?

It would be very hard to give just one answer to this. Michel Houellebecq’s Atomised, Nick Caves’s The Death Of Bunny Munro, John Berryman’s The Dream Songs, and Iain Banks’ The Steep Approach To Garbadale.

Last album/CD/ you bought?

Father John Misty (AKA Josh Tilmann)’s Mahashmashana. I’m going to see him in City Hall in August.

Favourite song?

Oh, I dunno. That’s a tough one. My favourite Album is probably Curtains by Tindersticks.

One person you would like to see in concert?

I would love to see Tom Waits live but I doubt it’ll happen at this stage. Every few months I google ‘Tom Waits New Album’ just to see what will come up.

Do you have a pet?

The last pet I had was a stray cat that I sort of adopted for a year in 2013 that lived on the roof outside my bedroom window and eventually in my bedroom as well. We had a sort of war going on with the other cats in the neighbourhood around The Lough.

I moved to Dublin after I left that house and often wonder what became of the cat.

Morning person or night owl?

I like getting up early but I’m not very functional in of making qrt until after midday. I definitely go to bed earlier than I used to.

Your proudest moment?

I suppose career-wise I did a solo show in the Royal Hibernian Academy a few years ago which was great. The works I’m proudest of are the two recent shows I’ve done in Cork, in Studio 12 Gallery and The Triskel.

Spendthrift or saver?

I have a pretty frugal life nowadays, but I have a habit of collecting random stuff. I bought a full-size Victorian era rocking horse a few years ago for instance that I have yet to make use of. It just sits in my studio looking at me.

Name one thing you would improve in your area in which you live?

I would confiscate all the derelict buildings around the place and make it so people can actually live in them

What makes you happy?

My friends and family.

How would you like to be ed?

With a museum, of course.

What else are you up to at the moment?

I’m currently working on a large body of work that I’m planning to exhibit in 2026.