.AN artist with strong Kerry connections will see her new exhibition open at Siamsa Tíre this Friday. Gráinne Mulligan’s ‘Threading Memories’ will be officially opened from 5.30pm with special guest Jimmy Deenihan in attendance.
Through a series of paintings, thread drawings and archival material, the artist returns repeatedly to a crocheted quilt made by her grandmother over one hundred years ago in Beale, County Kerry.
It follows the threads of memory, care and inheritance held within this single object. Repeated across a series of paintings, the quilt becomes more than a family heirloom.
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Through the slow, repetitive act of painting, the artist returns to its surface again and again, using observation as a means of drawing closer to her maternal lineage. Each painting becomes another attempt to understand an object that carries both personal and cultural histories.
Moving into the second gallery, thread leaves the quilt and becomes drawing. Fine linear works trace connections between generations, echoing both the structure of crochet and the invisible threads of inheritance.
The final space reveals the research that underpins the exhibition. Family photographs, her grandmother’s letter and archival material situate the work within the social and cultural history of North Kerry, allowing visitors to encounter the evidence that has informed the paintings and drawings.
Gráinne Mulligan lives and works between Dublin and Kerry with a home in Ballyferriter. She is a visual artist working across painting, drawing, sculpture and archival material.The exhibition runs from August 7 to September 19.
