It was an evening of legends. That was how the 'Queen of Collage' artist Sheila Gilroy-Collins described the launch of her solo exhibition, 'Legends and Landscapes', at the Ardhowen Theatre, Enniskillen on Wednesday, July 19.
"I'm surrounded by legends," she said, as she welcomed all in attendance, which included members of the Fermanagh arts and culture scene, and Lough Erne Yacht Club.
Sheila continued by introducing "legendary" architect, artist, writer and historian Michael Raphael Donnelly, who officially launched the exhibition.
Best known for ripping, sticking, repurposing and recycling magazines and newspapers to create striking pieces of collage art, Sheila's exhibition features an array of legends, from Queen Elizabeth II to WB Yeats.
"Working in collage is like trying to paint with dry paint. In collage you can't use water or oil to mix colours. You need to find colours or text in different media which blend together.
"You can find a colour in a magazine and a piece of text in a newspaper which blend together like paint," said Sheila, an art graduate from the University of Ulster York Street, as she explained how much time it takes to produce her work.
"The challenge is trying to find those pieces, [it] is a bit like looking for pieces of a jigsaw without knowing where the pieces are."
Sheila also tries where possible to incorporate narrative/text into her images which are relative to the piece.
The multimedia exhibition also includes paintings inspired by legendary landscapes that hold significance to the Fermanagh artist.
The exhibition is on display at the Ardhowen Theatre until September 30.
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