Mapping the Silence

After learning that both their paternal lines stemmed from the Oisín clan in the North of Ireland 12,000 years ago, the poets James O'Hern - Texan, Irish, Chickasaw - and Cecilia Vicuna - Andean Mestizo Indigenous from Chile - travelled to Ireland in 2006.  But they were not tracing their genetic story or their family legends.  They were looking for the poetic lineage of the imagination, a common thread weaving indigenous peoples all over the world, the un-nameable beauty that persists in space and time.

The artist's book documents their journey in poetry, drawings, paintings, photographs and still unfolding conversations.

Published on the occasion of Cecilia Vicuna's Reverse Migration: A Poetic Journey at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, 7 November 2025 - 5 July 2026.