Kinvara exhibition on the theme of ‘Home’

KINVARA Area Visual Artists (KAVA) is opening the doors of the Courthouse for an exhibition of drawings and paintings by Terri Kelleher, which contemplate the concept of home.

The Ballinderreen-based artist and children’s book illustrator created most the pieces this year and last, and the exhibition, entitled ‘Home’, will run from July 23 to 30.

“Most of us have spent so much time at home over the last year-and-a-half and it’s something that we have almost taken for granted,” Terri said. “The exhibition looks at how important this space is to us. It’s somewhere that we should have a sense of safety and be free to find ourselves. Home is usually the place where our loved ones are. It could be linked to our ancestral story and should be our anchor in this world. The drawings and paintings in this exhibition touch on the idea of our connection to familiar places and we often think of home as being a geographical location.”

Terri, who is also Press Officer for KAVA, works from her home studio and has been a full-time artist since 2012. The Maryland native is self-taught. “I often work with acrylic ink on watercolour paper,” she explained. “I draw in pencil and then add the details.”

Since joining KAVA last year, Terri has found a like-minded community of artists and creatives.

“KAVA is made up of a great bunch of people,” she said. “It’s an initiative set up to create a more interactive experience between artists and members of the public. We want art to be engaging. KAVA’s ethos is to work together to make art and art-making accessible to the whole community regardless of age, ability/disability, previous art knowledge or experience.

We have members based around Kinvara and the wider South Galway and North Clare area.”

Currently, KAVA has around 80 members who are either full-time or part-time artists. Members practise in a wide range of disciplines including painting, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, glass, photographyand graphic design. KAVA also has a number of members who are not practising artists but joined in order to support the aims of the group.

The use of the old Kinvara Courthouse as a community arts centre and artist-run gallery has given the group a new lease of life. KAVA have been able to hold art exhibitions, host story-telling groups, small plays, life-drawing, seminars and workshops among other things. “It’s really nice to have the space,” said Terri, “and it’s wonderful that the gallery space has been able to open again after lockdown. We would normally hold workshops and talks, but we’re still limited in terms of what we can do, because of the restrictions.”

An artist’s talk will be given, by Terri, via video and will be available to view online, on KAVA’s social media, and the artist’s website for the duration of the event.

Opening times at the Courthouse are Friday to Sunday from 10am to 4pm, and Monday to Thursday from 12pm to 4pm.