Where the Light Falls

Join us on Thursday 7th of September for the opening of the ‘Where the Light Falls’.

‘Where the Light Falls’ is a two-person exhibition by Julie Ann Haines and Noelle O’Keeffe.

Over the past year, the artists have worked alongside each other at Graphic Studio Dublin, to create a new body of work for the show.  

As printmakers, both artists favour the medium of etching and are inspired by a desire to capture light and the transient moment. The exhibition’s title, Where the Light Falls, illustrates this central and unifying element in their work.  

They depict moments of stillness in public and private spaces in an otherwise fast-moving world, and aim to express the essence of what it is to be fully present in those places.   Their imagery is permeated by a quiet sense of contemplation.

Julie Ann Haines’ current subject matter is drawn from the North inner city or housing on the semi-rural fringes of wider North County Dublin.  They are from a certain moment in time, the light illuminating their facades and she meticulously crops images of washing lines, potted plants, windows and garden furniture to create her compositions. Her work celebrates the depth of beauty in these ordinary domestic settings and the life that flows through them. It asks questions about the impermanent nature of the structures we build and construct, the objects we collect and the traces we leave behind.

‘My work focuses on the stuff of everyday living… the unremarkable and unpeopled localities passed by every day in early morning or evening when all that is left are the traces of those who have passed through.’  Julie Ann Haines

Noelle O’Keeffe finds inspiration in the pockets of nature dotted around our urban landscape, our gardens, local parks, bodies of water and green spaces. In this series of work she explores the beauty of these ordinary places, which often go unnoticed and unappreciated as we go about our busy lives. These pieces feature in striking colour, reflections in the waters of a winter pond, the stillness and mystery of a sombre ‘night pond‘, the riotous energy of sunflowers from her garden in various states of growth and decay, and the tranquility of flag irises in evening light on the banks of the Grand Canal.

‘My upbringing in the countryside in County Westmeath surrounded by fields, trees and flowers has had a profound effect on my development as an artist and on my choice of subject matter …..I am captivated by the curve of a leaf, the fragility of a petal, reflections, patterns, and above all colour.’  Noelle O’Keeffe

The exhibition which includes a selection of etchings, monoprints, and paintings runs from September 2nd until the 7th of October.