Helena Gorey presents a body of new work for the RHA Ashford Gallery in an exhibition titled Proscenium. The title is a reference to the theatrical space that functions as a frame for a performance from which the audience can observe the events taking place on stage. In this way, Gorey’s abstract colour field paintings invite the viewer to her perception of the surrounding landscape. The paintings are a representation of an ongoing dialogue between the artist and the natural world. Her senses, feelings and thoughts are all developed by being immersed and rooted in her native town-land in Kilkenny. How the light plays on the new spring grass, the misty blue of the distant mountains or the delicate colour of small wild flowers, the essences of the landscape of Ireland have become distilled by Gorey as she translates this onto the canvas. Gorey works with paint sensitively and intuitively and by using the language of colour develops brush strokes, drips, blots and craggy edges. These openings and imperfections rely on the unpredictability of the flow of paint and sometimes reveal a layered history beneath the surface.
ASHFORD IN CONVERSATION SERIES: Helena Gorey with Catherine Marshall5.30pm, Wednesday 7 March – RHA Friends Room
The RHA Ashford Gallery Programme is Sponsored by Hennessy.
Image: Helena Gorey, Untitled, 2017, Oil on linen, 30 x 30cm, Image courtesy of the artist.
