Mandala Exhibition Smock Alley Dublin

description

I have the opportunity to host an exhibition of my work at the beautiful Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin in early summer 2015. The Exhibition will feature over 20 works, but I need to get them framed first.... This will be my first solo exhibition and it has been a dream of mine since I can remember having dreams.

Creating mandala art is a form of meditation and spiritual dialogue for me. Within the human subconscious, there is an abundance of images; a wealth of connections and memory, built layer upon layer. As a contemplative person, I am driven to search through these images for meaning and significance. As an artist, I seek to refine this information and create personal works of substance and beauty. In the sharing of this work with an audience, the personal then becomes universal.

The wellspring of my inspiration can be found woven with strands garnered from scientific studies of the universe and its relationship to art and spirituality. This includes the study of geometry, physics, spirituality, astronomy and the examination of mandala making across time and place.

My work is entirely intuitive and is done in response to the emergence of a stressed and frantically paced life that has ensued for most people in Ireland post Celtic Tiger. Mandala making and art as a practice can be found right across the world, throughout all religions and none. The effect of the mandala on both myself as the creator and on anybody viewing the piece, is one of serenity and calmness. Indeed, it was to overcome stress within my own life that I began the practice. And the calmness that I have found can be transferred to the viewers of the pieces. A much needed break from the material to connect back to the soul and spirit

Forms of mandala can be found in many of the domes of the great buildings of Ireland, such as The National Library and National Museum of Ireland and City Hall to name but a few and indeed in Smock Alley Theatre itself. The geometry and proportions of these buildings are pleasing and somehow powerful to those who stand and contemplate the spaces. That is because these proportions are to be found in all of nature, from the microcosm to the macrocosm. By bringing these proportions and geometries into my art I aim to evoke a similar response.

The meshing of my creative impulses with a concentrated meditative practice, influenced by the ever changing world of science, forms the premise of my art making. Science informs the artistic spirit, but I as an artist question, enhance and employ it as a muse to inspire a connection to the complexities and mysteries of the invisible. Bringing the light and energy of the cosmos to the space in between the piece and the viewer. Each of my works is a kind of prayer, a brushstroke to the spirit if you like.