Intriguing exhibition nears its end in Waterford
Attending were Liliia Rohova and Olga Prikhno. Photo: John Power
A very special exhibition is currently ongoing at the GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art) in Waterford but will end on September 27
'Blue Skies, Black Earth', is a display of works by artist Deirdre Frost.
A spokesperson for the gallery, in describing the works said: "The earth, locus of growth and renewal are the inspiration behind this new body of oil paintings on canvas and on wood.
"In tandem with this is a focus on the innate instinct in all living things to grow, to thrive, to flourish, to reach upward."
"The paintings attempt to capture the experience of living in this world - a fragmented, complicated place of growth and collapse, influenced by a multitude of opaque and complex human agendas," said the spokesperson.
"The paintings strive to break free, to upend their structured rootedness. Spaces of open air, can be glimpsed through geometric slabs, while plants drift free of their moorings."
The spokesperson said that many of the plants are painted in exuberant colour, a celebration of the ability of the natural world to recover and thrive, and the crucial role it can play in healing a broken humanity.
"Vignettes depict scenes of captured beauty and simplicity, much like an endeavour to simplify and structure our lives and desires, while the box like structures that contain these snapshots split and crack," she said.
"Oil painting on canvas rooted on the floor draws the viewer in to its dark vortex as prickly plants reach from the depths, a visceral reminder of what is beneath our feet," she added.
"Sea thrift drifting through a triptych give a sense a floating free, uprooted, adrift and floating like seeds through the air while soft bog cotton blows above collapsed slabs on a shore. These paintings contain signs of global fracturing and collapse, throughout which plants strive ardently toward the air."
Deirdre Frost holds a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from MTU Crawford College of Art & Design (2020,) and spent part of her studies on Erasmus in the University of Art & Design, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
She is now based at Backwater Artist Studios, Cork and is represented by Kevin Kavanagh.
She has participated in numerous group displays and her solo exhibitions have been staged in some of the foremost galleries in the country.
The artist's work has been commissioned by Glucksman, UCC through the project, 'Memory of Place', in collaboration with Cork City Partnership and UCC academic Denis Linehan. DCU commissioned an artwork for their main reception area at Glasnevin, through a project titled 'Your Collection, Your Choice', and her work is also represented in the collections of the Office of Public Works and Cork City Council.
The exhibition in GOMA will remain on show until September 27.
