Main Gallery July 2019
Currently showing in the main gallery is an exhibition of Michael Healy's hand-carved ewe 'needles' and walking stick, wood art objects by Harald Kurreck and works on paper and canvas by Sarah Walker.
Michael Healy is a Cork based mixed-media artist. A 2019 Degree graduate of the Crawford Collage of Art and Design, his works are based in mixed media sculpture. He has been selected for the Fledglings 2019 show at the Lavit Gallery in Cork City, a yearly exhibition from selected stand-out recent graduates.
He has also been selected for an upcoming residency at the National Sculpture Factory in Cork. Michael’s current work is inspired by the idea of human ingenuity and tools. ‘The processes of human creativity and communication. The acts that lead human beings to create tools and language, the necessity to survive, develop and ultimately begin to reason and understand the complexities of the human condition’. The works on show are made from hand-carved seasoned Irish Yew.
Harald Kurreck is a German artist based in Ireland.He creates wood art objects using fallen trees from the small island of Rossdohan, near Sneem in Co.Kerry. Coming from a business background Harald was inspired to start making art with wood after a visit to the Bucheim Museum (Museum of Imaginaltion) near Munich in Germany, where he saw the work of Ernst Gamperl. He was intrigued by how Gamperl used the natural process of drying timber to form intriguing shapes with the material. He met Gamperl who was friendly and easy to talk to and they discussed the process he was using to make his work.
The wood that Harald uses is taken from trees that have fallen in storms or need to be cut down for other reasons. The pieces are made from cut slices of trees roughly squared by a chainsaw before turning. Cracks in the core wood area are stabilized with butterflies. The objects are stained with natural stains such as catechou, bluewood or walnut. Then they are soaked in iron vinegar for up to a week and then soaked in water and lime. The natural change in shape which makes the pieces so intriguing and creative happens during the process of drying, the drying determines the final shape. Then the piece is treated with a solution of poppy oil and orange oil which give it a special shine and distinctive smell. After removing excess oil it is given a soft brushing with beeswax. A selection of Kurreck's pieces are currently on show in the main gallery with Rachel Ballagh's drawings.
Sarah Walker exhibits a large scale oil on paper from her tree series using splashes of oil paint on fabriano paper finished with details of oil in relief. Also on show is one of her oil on paper flower series 'Meadowsweet', and two oil on canvas works entitled 'North Road Tree' and 'Cow Parsley II.'
