Visual Art: Everything Flowing by Sinéad Fahey

Everything Flowing reminds us of our place in the world, among multiple species and complex systems, emphasising a respect and appreciation for symbiotic relations with nature.

Everything Flowing is an exhibition by artist Sinéad Fahey. Works have been selected from her expansive art practice in response to the site of the Tea Houses, acknowledging the River Nore and the habitat of the area. Sinéad passionately captures our entangled connection with the natural world. Several paintings and works on paper burst with gatherings of fish, birds and flowers, conveying a palpable flow of energy and togetherness. Sinéad talks about these ecological groupings as having the power “to give strength”, recognising our indisputable dependence in the fine-balanced ecosystem we inhabit. When people are depicted in these compositions, they are shown tending to plants, watering flowers, and demonstrating acts of care to our botanical companions. In other scenes people are placed in relation to their surroundings, establishing a non-anthropogenic position or priority.

Sinéad has a distinctive style that has confidently evolved over the years. She has a compulsion to create art, where animated scenes appear in her mind and are carefully coaxed into realisation. Starting with a line drawing, tracing over in thick Posca marker or paint, then fills the empty spaces with joyful colour. She often breaks the rigidity of these outlines by overlaying further marks; this technique imbues the work with texture, conjures depth, and gives the images a tangible vitality.

This exhibition is curated by Rachel Botha. Design by Emmet Brown. This project is initiated by the Kilkenny Arts Office and the Town Regeneration Office, and is kindly funded by Kilkenny County Council and the Arts Council.

Sinéad Fahey is a KCAT studio member. She has exhibited internationally, including the Beyond Festival, Leeds UK; Kaarisilta Gallery, Helsinki Finland; Art Brut Biennale, Hengelo The Netherlands; Kunsthaus Kannen, Münster Germany; Gallery Prabelli, Wiltz Luxembourg; and the Freight Gallery, Fremantle Australia. She has also shown extensively in Ireland, including at the F.E. McWilliam Gallery, Banbridge; Farmleigh House Gallery, Dublin; Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre; Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge; Galway Arts Centre; Crawford Art Gallery Cork; and the Copper House Gallery, Dublin. Sinéad has work in the Arts Council of Ireland’s collection.