Student stories: Geraldine Leahy
Littoral Shift: A Coastal Terrain in Flux:
A solo exhibition of work by Geraldine Leahy will be on display in Rush Library, Chapel Green, Rush, Co. Dublin from the 4th – 14th April 2022 . Intriguing combinations of monoprint and paint reveal the devastating consequences of coastal erosion in Portrane, Rogerstown Estuary and Rush. The artist observes the entanglements of manmade and natural materials and the impact mankind has had on the coastline.
Regularly walking the coastline, Leahy has become aware of many incongruous objects embedded in the sand. Coils of wire, flex cable, fragments of crockery, a discarded bicycle gear, corroded metal and plastic debris linger on the shoreline. These items are the residual marks of severe weather events, the traces and imprints of the processes of a changing climate. The artist uses these objects in monoprints and paint, embedding them into the surface of the canvas. Subsequent layers of acrylic and gouache reference the erosive process by concealing or revealing areas of the painting.
‘My approach involves working with layered processes that reflect the mutability and temporality of a fragile environment. It is disquieting to consider how long it took this tenuous landscape to form and yet how relatively quickly it can be destroyed’.
Geraldine Leahy is in her final year of a degree in painting with the Open College of the Arts, the distant learning partner of the University for the Creative Arts. Her current body of work, concerned with the exigent and immediate issues of climate change, has been successful in recent Open Calls. Leahy has had work selected for a number of exhibitions, including The First Fathom: Catch 21 in Kilmore Quay, Wexford, and online in The Flux Virtual, Eco Echo and Carbon: Borders: Voices exhibitions. She has also had work selected for print and online publications such as Edgezine, Artist Talk and Bealtaine magazines and the digital journal, @bind_collective. She was recently shortlisted in The New Emergence Art Prize 2022.
Littoral Shift: A Coastal Terrain in Flux will be on show in Rush Library from 4th – 14th April during library opening hours.
The artist’s work can be seen on her website, www.gleahyart.com , and on Instagram @gleahyart.
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21 thoughts on “Student stories: Geraldine Leahy”
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Beautiful work Geraldine and best of luck with the show
Thank you, Emma!
Beautiful and inspiring work. Wish you all the luck, Geraldine.
Thank you, Natalya!
Beautiful delicate images. Good luck Geraldine.
Thanks, Anna!
I have been following you on Instagram and like your work a lot. Congratulations for your many achievements
Thank you so much! How kind of you! What is your Instagram name?
Wishing you all the best with your show Geraldine – your work is beautiful!
Thanks, Arlene!
All the best with your exhibition. Your work is both beautiful and inspiring.
Thank you, Dawn! Lovely to hear from you. I hope your further studies are going well.
Fabulous work, good luck with the exhibition!
Thanks very much, Wendy!
Well done Geraldine, lots of luck for the exhibition, even though you don’t need it, as your work is so strong-the images have an ethereal beauty- subtle yet powerful.
Well done Geraldine, lots of luck for the exhibition, even though you don’t need it, as your work is so strong-the images have an ethereal beauty- subtle yet powerful.
Looking forward to hearing all about it!
Thanks, Wendy! It’s very kind of you to say so. Thanks for your continued support!
Beautiful, and delicate images. good luck with the exhibition.
Many thanks, Susan!
Beautiful work Geraldine wishing you the best of luck with your show
Many thanks!