Looking Back / Looking Forward

Exhibition Notes

In this collection, Clare Cryan revisits some old favourite themes such as the North Connemara coastline, wild flowers, Still Lifes, and inevitably her cat, Cleopatra, makes an appearance. But there are surprises also – a series of Equus paintings, based on Roman and Greek images of figures and animals, sensitive observations of the character of persons and horses, expressed strongly in line, strongly patterned... "and so my adventure with mixed media, classical line, and an idiotic love of horses led to the present production of this Equus Series". This exploration of pattern then spilled over into Still Life and a series of Cubist Paintings, experimental observations of objects and overlapping shapes in perfect harmony. This is the work at the height of her powers of perception and technical skill, yet still willing to experiment. There is a real spirit of adventure about these paintings, and a courageous use of colour.