Main Gallery- July 2020
Currently showing in the Main Gallery is a joint exhibition of Kate Murphys sculptural works and Ellen Duffys works on paper. Kates works titled Corner and Revealed Reliance were part of her Fine Art Degree Show in 2019 in Technological University Dublin. Her work titled Dismantle was realised during a residency in the Fire Station Artists Studio as the recipient of the Graduate Award for Sculpture in 2019. Ellen is exhibiting a series of works on paper realised during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic when access to her studio in the RHA was restricted. Ellen was awarded the RHA Graduate Studio Award after a successful degree show in 2019 in Technological University Dublin. Ellen was one of eleven leading Irish artists commissioned by the Dock to produce a body of work in 2020.She has upcoming shows in The Draiocht in Dublin and The Dock Arts Centre in 2021. The works in this exhibition were made individually and exhibited together. This exhibiton was curated by Kate and previously the two artists have collaborated together. Both artists are working on a project supported by the Dock, this project aims to merge both Ellens and Kates practice and will result in a week long working week in Ellens studio in the RHA in August. The final installation will be presented in the form of an open studio.
Kate Murphy's practice deals with the arrangment and construction of an installation through different scluptural interventions in a space. The concept of the work focuses on how humans use, construct, de-construct and divide space. This series of work references the systems in place that alllow us to mould space and the physical properties of the materials assosiated with these processes. This series of works intends to contemplatively create an in-betweenness between object and place, installed in response to the gallery site. Kates practice intends to reveal new possibilities within the materials and the space it inhabits.Her installations reference systems of making including elements of architecture, design and sculpture.
Ellen Duffy is interested in how things or objects give agency to one another in the role they play in assemblage. Previous to the current pandemic, Ellen primarily created site responsive sculptural installations and due to lockdown restrictions she was unable to continue working on a large scale for this period. Her works on paper directly reflect her sculptural practice- a process led by the physical engagment with her chosen materials/ object. The series of works presented act as energetic imagined landscapes. She uses a vibrant colour palette and she forms and layers block colours alongside gestural marks. She avoids representing a faux 3 dimensional space within her works on paper and instead plays within those limitations of the 2 dimensional framework.
