East Galway Art Trail 2011

East Galway Art Trail 2011

The East Galway Art Trail, now in its fourth year, will,this year host artists Aishling Morin, Fiona Flaherty, Johnny Hession, Ann Hill, John Soden and Peter Kelehan.

The Art Trail is a project, organized by Ballinasloe artist, Joyce Little and the staff of Galway County Library who live and work in the East Galway region in Ballinasloe, Portumna, Killimor, Eyrecourt and Woodford.

Art and libraries merge and, in doing so both the artist and their work are brought into the wider community in a socially inclusive way, by using the facilities available in rural libraries as focal points and points of interaction.

The artists live within local communities themselves....therefore, by bringing the two together, smaller communities can benefit from and be exposed to the enjoyment of art and engage with their librarys facilities at the same time.
Thus, the Art Trail aims to expose the wider community to art, in its various forms.

Exhibition by Aishling Morin in Killimor Library 16^th March @7.30pm
Librarian; Marie Mullins

Aishling works with acrylic paint. In some of her latest work, she has employed the use of painting knives to make interesting shapes, not possible with brushes.While her work is mainly abstract and expressionistic, her inspiration is varied:from coloured glass, rocks, various animals, plants and marine life which are a rich source of form, colour and texture. She tends not to impose titles on her paintings, unless a particular work reveals a title as she feels a word can influence the experience of the viewer and suggest something that perhaps they might not have seen and affect their perception of the work, thus changing their individual experience with the piece. Aishling studied at DIT and GMIT.

Exhibition by Fiona Flaherty anf Johnny Hession in Portumna Library 23^rd March @7.30pm.
Librarians; Teresa Tierney, Louise Harte.

Fiona Flaherty works in the medium of paint. Her interest lies in exploring female identity through objects, the body and the imagination. She studied Art and Design at Moate Business College,during which she was chosen to fulfil 3 weeks work experience in Barcelona,Spain. She is now in 3^rd year in Cluain Mhuire, GMIT Studying Art and Design,specialising in paint but also working with a wide range of materials.

Johnny Hession works in the area of sculpture.He uses video, photography and performance as a way to express his work.He explores the notion of identity,territory and rituals. He used the idea of the door as a transportal and also as fear of the unknown and,as a confined space in open space. He uses his hair and body in a way that comes across as masculine/feminine gestures. His hair is expressed in a spiritual/ritualistic manner by quick movement giving mask like features, having these differebt characters in the inner self. Johnny studied at GMIT.