4 June 2024
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
ARTS NEWS: You might have walked past 46 Grand Parade many times, now’s your chance so see what’s inside.
Ariadne’s Thread, an exhibition by a group of graduates from MTU Crawford College of Art and Design’s Special Purpose Award in Art Textile will open at the MTU Gallery at 46 Grand Parade, Cork City at 6pm on Tuesday 4th June and will run from 11am-4pm (Monday-Friday) until Wednesday 12th June.
Marjan-Vos-Aine-Sealy-Theresa-Connolly-and-Patsy-Atkinson-prepare-for-Ariadnes-Thread-a-textile-exhibition-at-the-MTU-Gallery-at-46-Grand-Parade-Cork
Remember-to-remember-by-Laurie-Manning.-Linen-print-stitch
The exhibition will showcase 2D and 3D textiles pieces by ten artists who have recently completed their studies.
The ten exhibiting artists are Patsy Atkinson, Sarah Buckley, Theresa Connolly, Doreen Fitzmaurice, Mary Foster, Claudia Hernández-Espinosa, Laurie Manning, Áine Sealy, Kay Roche and Marjan Vos.
Using diverse techniques, materials and processes, the wall-hung and sculptural works include weave, crochet, stitch, felting, print, natural materials and natural dyes. Their work explores a broad range of complex themes such as loss, memory, family history, nature, connection, conflict and exploitation.
Ariadne’s Thread takes its title from Greek mythology. Ariadne, King Minos’ daughter, is associated with problem-solving skills, ingenuity and creativity. When Theseus went to slay the Minotaur, she helped him to escape the labyrinth by giving him a ball of red thread.
At the heart of this Greek myth lies a metaphor relating to finding our way through the maze of the creative process – something the ten female exhibitors can relate to well. Each showed great intuition, creativity and clever problem-solving skills as they worked through their research and creative challenges over the past two years to culminate in the creation of this body of work.
Pamela Hardesty, Lecturer in textiles at MTU Crawford College of Art and Design, said:
“I am very proud of this Art Textile class. This is the seventh graduating class of this unique course. Applications are now open online for the eighth intake beginning in autumn of 2024. We have combined studio modules in fine art-led textiles, which I teach, with academic studies modules in design and textile history and theory with Sarah Foster. Sarah and I enjoy the enthusiasm, textile passion, and work ethic of each group of textiles soul-mates we have taught since 2010. We really recommend visiting this experimental, creative and sincere exhibition of works.”