There was a great buzz at Hambly & Hambly at Dunbar House, Enniskillen last Friday (May 26) as art enthusiasts perused the works of award-winning Irish abstract Impressionist painter Ciara Gormley during the launch of her solo exhibition, ‘The Line Drawn Between Planes’, in the basement gallery.

 

Artist Ciara Gormley and a young art lover guest at the launch of her exhibition.

Artist Ciara Gormley and a young art lover at the launch of her exhibition.

Speaking about her solo exhibition at Hambly & Hambly, Ciara – who is a winner of the 2023 John Richardson French Residency Award, and who along with other 2023 winners, will be travelling to Dampierre-sur-Boutonne with Hambly & Hambly in mid-June – said: “I was delighted when Ciara [Hambly] offered me a solo show last year.

“I was just finishing the Turps course and been working through a lot of painting in the studio, so it was a real opportunity to be offered the space to put those ideas together.

“Ciara is really supportive and encouraging, whilst allowing you completely free reign, which is brilliant.”

 

Ciara Hambly with Simon Carman.

Ciara Hambly with Simon Carman.

She continued: “The works in this exhibition reflect the things that have caught my attention or influenced me over the last year.

“Your studio space is somewhere you work through ideas. You might start off with sketches from the woods or garden, and then they are developed into paintings in the studio.

“My studio is full of sketchbooks I refer to, oil sketches for bigger painting, colour notes, all arranged as prompts towards the paintings.

 

Jenny McManus and Gabriele Tottenham.

Jenny McManus and Gabriele Tottenham.

‘Images in my head’

“I keep books to hand that have created images in my head; the garden birds feature because I hear and see them every day from my studio.

“The trees I constantly come back to drawing or painting are all around my studio.

“The title for the show is a quote from Ali Smith’s book, ‘How to be Both’, which I have had to hand all year.

“It’s hard to explain, but when you are focused on painting a place you have experienced, it is as if you are seeing beyond the immediately visible, as if layers are being lifted and also as if you are getting impressions of things that have happened there before.

“The finished paintings are like distillations of all my sketches, impressions and memories of a place,” said the artist.

On the evening of the exhibition opening, Irish abstract artist Eamon Colman, who is an elected member of Aosdána, was guest speaker.

 

Eamon Colman RHA introducing the art exhibition at Hambly and Hambly.

Eamon Colman RHA introducing the art exhibition at Hambly and Hambly.

Talking about Ciara’s work, Eamon – who will be a mentor on the 2023 John Richardson French Residency – said: “There is a form of painting that is not about the ‘I’ but about the ‘we’.

“Ciara Gormley’s paintings are most definitely about the ‘we’; she gives the viewer the space for their own personal interpretation a space for imagination.

“The John Richardson Residency is equally a place where artists can create in peace, unburdened by everyday routine. A place where interdisciplinary creativity leads to a new imagination,” he added.