There was a huge turnout for the opening last Saturday of Niamh McGuinne’s first major survey solo exhibition “Carapace” at the Highlanes Gallery.
Artist and paper conservator Niamh was joined by artist, writer and arts consultant, Neva Elliott for an informal talk about the compelling artworks and the inspiration informing them.
Those in attendance included many artists, including Brian Fay, Breda Marron, John Graham and Violet Shirran, Highlanes Gallery Board Members, Kevin McAllister and Sean Cotter, academics, Roisin Kennedy and Luke Gibbons, conservators, Zoe Reid, Jessica Baldwin and Maria Canavan, and Niamh’s parents, Dermot and Cepta McGuinne, and two of her three daughters, Nancy and Maggie.
Carapace brings together sculpture, print and film which all look at the need for self-preservation, to listen to yourself and learn to read the signs your body is trying to show you.
Scale and material are explored and reinterpreted with numerous references to myth and storytelling. Inspired by 19th medical records of Chromidrosis sufferers, or the beauty industry’s exploitation of snail mucus, the works in Carapace are not purely fantastical, but point to how reality can at times stretch the imagination.
At its core, is the premise that sometimes in the making of something, the process is as magical/transformative as what is produced.
Artist Niamh McGuinne pictured at the opening of her exhibition Carapace, at the Highlanes Gallery with Gavin Bourke and Brian Byrne. The exhibition will run until October 7th. Photo: Ciara Wilkinson.
Niamh McGuinne’s practice can be defined as expanded print, incorporating sculptural elements, film and installation. She uses a combination of low-tech and analogue systems of production along with traditional and experimental methods of etching, screen and transfer printing on a variety of materials including film, paper, textile, Perspex and metal.
These prints are often combined in 3D configurations either as a method of display, to encourage interaction or in order to film and animate.
Audiences can engage with the exhibition via Highlanes Gallery’s public programme, which includes in September, a Primary School Programme, the Azure session for people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia, an art teacher’s morning continuous professional development, guided tours, Culture Night, and an artist-led evening workshop.
Carapace continues until Saturday 7th October, Gallery times 10:30am to 5pm, Tuesday – Saturday.
