We will begin this event in the RHA School with a wine reception and then make our way into each studio to view and discuss the work in progress of each studio artist.
Artists:
Lauren Conway works through drawing and installation to explore experiences of second level education in Ireland. Recent exhibitions include A Great Public Meeting, the Dock, 2022, Pallas Projects Periodical Review, PP+S, 2021, The RDS Visual Awards, RHA, 2021 and Karen, Ormond Art Studios 2021. Through the process of drawing Conway seeks to tease out a commonality between our highly individualised experiences of participating within the collective ethos of public educational spaces. Her most recent body of work – A Great Public Meetingexplores the material conditions of empty educational spaces that question and challenge aspirational promises put forward by the state through formal education. The work opens up a space for further connections to be made beyond the educational. Through the use of archival materials, documentation from site visits, and found images from her teenage years.
The artist on her paintings: “Sources for beginning a painting range from anatomical diagrams, screenshots and mapping to abstract mark-making that is improvised and cathartic. I develop a conversation with each work over time, starting out with a shape that I’m comfortable with and giving form to a message that often surprises me as it comes to light – this can be psychological, political, philosophical or social and can be interpreted in multiple ways; for me, it is usually related to the body, the mind, healing, how one interacts with others, in family, in society, online. I consider my language to be feminine, meditative and active, occupying a space that demands attention, competing with the bold colours of LED screens, simultaneously offering a rest from technology. A handmade personal painting (PP), intentionally similar in scale to a laptop; when one connects with a painting it can mirror a part of themselves, forming a subtle and human connection between the maker and the viewer.”