Event
To coincide with the Kilkenny Arts Festival, an exhibition of fine art paintings and sculptures will be launched at St. Luke’s General Hospital for Carlow/Kilkenny on Wednesday evening 6 August 2014. Open to the public from 9-6pm each day until the 17 August and situated in the link corridor at the existing Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) in the main building at St. Luke’s, the exhibition features works by artists Rachel Burke and sculptor Ruairí Carroll. An initiative by the Arts Co-ordinator for St. Luke’s, the exhibition will be officially opened by the hospital’s General Manager Ms. Ann Slattery at 4.30pm on Wednesday 6 August.
Rachel Burke is originally from Cork but is now based in Threecastles, Kilkenny. Rachel works as a Fine Art painter and has been exhibiting extensively nationwide in solo and invited group shows since graduating from Crawford College of Art,Corkin 2000. Rachel has been selected for annual group show in the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin. Rachel’s paintings are of beautiful seascapes, both in Ireland and abroad, in addition to nostalgic domestic scenes from the kitchen to the garden. Rachel includes modern images of children on tractors and old style furniture evoking old Ireland. Rachel’s landscapes are made up with erratic gestural line, to build toward solid image. The light washes muted colours, patterns and all important lines combined to give the paintings a feeling of nostalgia. The landscapes for the show are coastal images that contain a wild energy. Rachel works with acrylic inks on canvas, building up backgrounds with textured paint, pattern and text and drawing on top with dip pens and brushes. In the artists own words she incorporates:
“Found patterns from my home and handwritten backwards text weave together for a layered collaged effect, combining thoughts and memories with landscapes. The paintings are of landscapes from my local area or places I have come across on daily excursions. The paintings document my life acting as a diary. Drawing is the foundation of my work; the intimacy of line conveys personal memories and creates atmospheric scenes.”
Ruairi is a native of Kilkenny and a graduate of Grennan Mills, Arts & Craft school Thomastown in 1995. He continued his studies in Crawford College of Art, Cork graduating in 1999 with B.A. in Fine Art Sculpture. Ruairí has been working for the last twelve years as a professional stone sculptor, has exhibited both nationally and internationally and completed numerous commissions both public and private, including a sculptural hurling tribute in his native Threecastles. Ruairí Carroll is exhibiting his sculptures in Kilkenny Limestone in the window alcoves of the exhibition area. Ruairí’s sensitive female forms contrast with the masculine rugged forms to show the amazing contrast and variety he can extract from the stone. In Ruairi’s own words about his sculptures and method of creating work:
“Sculpture for me is an instinctive reaction and a response to present situations. My work acts as a personal documentation of life through the medium of stone. I am very much interested in exploring human emotion. I’m trying to create a dramatic moment in time, making the stone move through the on- lookers imagination. I find combining both contrasting organic with geometric shapes visually exciting. The organic shapes of the contorted muscles flowing into each other combined with the highly textured finish create an illusion of movement in my work. While the smooth geometric angles on the feet and face gives the work a strong sense of gravity.”
For further information contact Edelle Nolan, Arts Coordinator St. Luke’s General Hospital, Kilkenny & Wexford General Hospital by emailing Edelle.Nolan@hse.ie.
