The Waterfront Gallery, Westport’s upcoming exhibition will feature new works by Kilkenny-based artist Catherine Barron. The show, entitled Singing Over the Bones, opens tonight Friday, November 13 at 7.30 pm and runs until December 4.
Michael Ring TD will officially open this much anticipated show. This is the fourth exhibition since the gallery’s new space opened in July.
Catherine Barron studied graphic design at Dun Laoghaire School of Art and Design and worked as a freelance illustrator before travelling abroad where she worked in America, London, and Zimbabwe. She returned to Ireland in 1995 and has been painting full time since. A prolific and versatile artist, Barron has had many solo shows, most recently in the Bridge Gallery in Dublin in 2006.
The source materials for Singing Over the Bones were old, small, black and white photographs of the artist’s family. However the paintings produced are not portraits in the traditional sense. The lack of clarity in the images lend themselves to a discourse in reawakening and remembrance. The choice of materials is imperative. The rawness of the grounds challenges the delicacy of the fine acrylic ink layers resulting in a slow contemplative process of discovery.
The use of images as a communicative tool has been ever present in Barron’s work. In Singing Over the Bones, she uses images that are familiar, yet forever distant. There is a sense of perseverance inherent in this series of more than 30 paintings. Each one is precious and nostalgic, yet there is an omnipresence of joy or humour. With titles such as ‘Date before Daddy’ and ‘I never spoke of that day again’, we are reminded of how we project our own feelings and associations onto images. Each piece tells a story, but an open one.
