Kilkenny artist prepares for graduate exhibition of contemporary textile art

A Kilkenny artist who has recently completed a Special Purpose Award in Art Textile at MTU Crawford College of Art &Design in Cork will be exhibiting her work in a group graduate exhibition in Cork City next month.

Kay Roche's exhibition, Ariadne’s Thread will open at the MTU Gallery at 46 Grand Parade in Cork City at 6pm on Tuesday, June 4 and will run from 11am-4pm each weekday until June 12 .

It will showcase textiles pieces by Kay and nine other artists who have recently completed their studies. The other exhibiting artists are Patsy Atkinson, Sarah Buckley, Theresa Connolly, Doreen Fitzmaurice, Mary Foster, Claudia Hernandez-Espinosa, Laurie Manning, Áine Sealy and Marjan Vos.

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.

Their work explores a broad range of complex themes such as loss, memory, family history, nature, connection, conflict and exploitation.

Using diverse techniques, materials and processes, the wall-hung and sculptural works include weave, crochet, stitch, felting, print, natural materials and natural dyes.

In her final piece. ‘Contours, Earth-links’,  Kay, who lives in Inistioge, Co Kilkenny, explores the ups and downs of life and the fragile connections between mankind and the planet that we live on. The skyline of the Comeragh and Knockmealdown mountains are portrayed using crocheted cotton yarn. The shadows created in the artwork are reflections on our past while the future is yet to be determined.