Custom House Studios are currently hosting an exhibition of paintings and prints - 'My Halcyon Days' - by Norah Brennan. The exhibition runs until Sunday, September 13.
Speaking about her work, Norah said: "I work primarily as a printmaker but also produce works in paint, mixed media and collage. My art has evolved from memories of emotion and feelings of time, place and events.Some are half forgotten/ remembered. They are seen through the fog of time and heavily influenced by the present. I address realms of separation, loss and ambivalence as well as joy in my work. This is often an onerous and challenging task for the artist. But it is here I discover gifts of meaning, way-marks pointing to possibilities and futures not only for myself but hopefully for those who engage with my work.
"Making art allows me to emotionally engage with the defining moments of my life as well as the changes and challenges that the passing of time brings. At the same time it facilitates creative expression and engagement with the world around me. Abstraction allows me to work instinctively. I often develop a piece as I work, allowing this instinct to kick in and take me where it will.
"Constant engagement with one's emotions through processes which are at times taxing can be exhausting both physically and mentally, but ultimately my engagement with the processes are essentially uplifting experiences bringing both intellectual and aesthetic gratification. Acts of remembrance are a cornerstone of my daily art practice. This constant engagement with remembrance is important as an act of meditation. The work features coincidental, accidental and unexpected connections, leading to surprising analogies and encouraging the viewer to make new personal associations."
Born in London, Norah grew up in Mayo. She originally studied and worked as a catering manager but left that profession to study at GMIT, Galway, where she graduated in 2011 with a BAFA (First Class Honours ) specialising in Printmaking.
On graduating, she won the Galway Print Studio Annual Bursary and remained a member until its closure in 2018. She works from her own studio workshop: Cló sa Chró in Claremorris and is a member of Limerick Printmakers.
Norah has had solo shows in Ireland and Northern Ireland, numerous group shows throughout Ireland and the UK, and in France, Australia, Bangladesh and Japan and has been selected for many juried exhibitions.
She has completed residencies in Wales in 2015 and 2017 and in rural Kenya early in 2020. Norah teaches art workshops, mainly in printmaking, bookbinding and painting. Her work is in the collections of National University of Ireland, Galway, Roscommon County Council and private collectors.
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