Between Dog & Wolf. Galway Centre for the Arts, 27th January – 4th March 2017
Between Dog & Wolf was a mixed media international group show of 7 artists curated by Maeve Mulrennan at Galway Arts Centre, Galway, Ireland. The curatorial premise for the exhibition took as a starting point the French phrase “L’heure entre chien et loup” which positioned multiple interpretive possibilities: the twilight or gloaming hour when transformation can happen; people can take risks, adopt different characteristics or turn from one form into another and when something is vague, unclear or unknown and can be mistaken for something else through perceptual distortion of light and time.
Karen’s contribution (9 paintings) explored the idea of the ‘gloaming hour’ or twilight that the expression “L’heure entre chien et loup” invoked. ‘Glom’, ‘glowan’, the old English verb to glow, to become twilight or to become dark also connects to the French term L’heure bleue, which, in Karen’s perspective, sets up contemplation of indeterminate and mysterious states of being in the world. In response, Karen’s work explored philosophical ideas surrounding unconventional understandings of temporality and the potential of the moment in relation to light. The paintings present fugitive, enigmatic forms which are suggestive of fleeting thoughts, spaces of illumination and the ephemeral.
