A new art exhibition, featuring 30 paintings and drawings by Bantry based artist Catherine Weld, is opening at Cork County Council’s Library HQ Gallery. The solo collection, called ‘Fragile Island’, will run for four weeks from October 29 to November 26. The artist will also host a free workshop in the gallery in conjunction with the exhibition.
The LHQ gallery is located at the County Library Headquarters building next to Cork County Hall. Its accessible exhibition facility is available to emerging and established artists, community arts groups and others.
The exhibition is inspired by Catherine Weld’s daily walks in the rural landscape in West Cork and making drawings of the things she encounters. Her exhibition explores how Covid-19, together with the global effects of climate change, puts us in a place of unprecedented uncertainty.
Catherine says that anything that sparks her interest can become a subject, “I find that inspiration comes from the most delicate flower to extraordinary formations of rock, to the painful stumps of felled trees. For me, inspiration comes also from sounds, touch and the sensations of weather, light or atmosphere and I record them using pencils, charcoal and even lumps of earth and the sap of plants. My drawings and paintings explore the complex and beautiful but fragile and vulnerable natural world, as it comes under increasing threat from changes in climate and the ravages inflicted on it by humanity.”
Catherine will facilitate a free two-hour drawing and collage workshop in the gallery on Wednesday, November 17 from 10.30am to 12.30pm. No previous experience is necessary; however, the workshop is limited to six participants in accordance with Covid-19 public health guidelines. The workshop will explore tonal values and composition, there will also be an exercise combining collage and drawing. Participants are encouraged to bring along materials, such as photographs, that are meaningful to them for the exercise. Booking is essential and can be made by emailing arts@corkcoco.ie
For more information visit www.corkcoco.ie or www.catherineweld.com
