Journey  2012 , Molesworth Gallery, Dublin

Exhibited at The Molesworth Gallery, Dublin, November 8th -28th 2012 

These images are a metaphorical search for home. I often traverse the country at night, between my rented retreat at the foot of Mt. Brandon and my childhood home in Dublin. I reflect on changes in the landscape and townscapes along the way. I pass my father's childhood home, now a fast food restaurant. He left the small town 70 years ago, but his mind now travels back in time.

Observation and memory, photographs and fleeting iPhone snapshots, each are a starting point for charcoal drawings and paintings on gesso panels. Shadows strip extraneous detail; features are highlighted by streetlights, headlights and security lights. Lights glow from inside buildings enticing the viewer to voyeurism. Night may symbolise the unconscious. It is a time for sleep, for dreams, or for restlessness.

This ongoing series began a few years ago after spending a year in the US just before the economic crash and includes work from a residency in Ballinglen, Co. Mayo.


Maeve McCarthy 2012