Hi everyone

I have work  in two galleries at the moment; firstly my short film ‘burning bright‘ is been shown in a group show, the 9 stone group of Artists at the Norman Gallery in Wexford near where we live -Martin, Anthony, Nicola and other friends are also exhibiting. It opens tomorrow Sat 27 June at 5pm, continues daily 12-6pm until the 12 July. Sorry for the late notice but have been travelling recently. (Burning Bright was also shown at the new film program at Eigse in Carlow last week; I was away unfortunately but apparently a large audience turned up with Carlow’s own Hollywood star Saoirse Ronan, very exciting to hear such a strong audience for local films)

detail: Unwanted Genes (weeds) on a DNA Spiral, Cathy Fitzgerald 2003

Secondly, some work I made some years ago was selected for a new Children’s exhibtion Earth Explorers at the Ark in Temple Bar, in Dublin, Ireland. My DNA piece made from twigs and weed wildflowers and ‘red cells’ which I made from children’s ‘magic plastic’ are still proving popular and the science type exhibits such as mine were supported by the Exploration Station. You might have heard the adverts on RTE radio 1 – it’s a very well curated exhibition by Aishleigh Downey who previously worked at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Some of the exhibits are at child height, and all the works have a strong poetic sense to stir children and adults imagination about looking at the environment in a creative way or reinvestigating the creative possibilities in natural or found materials. Perhaps the best and most fun elements of Earth Explorers are the exciting range of workshops for the children. The show was opened by Green Party Minister for the Environment, John Gormley See the www.ark.ie

The Ark, Europe‘s first custom-built Children’s Cultural Centre, programmes, promotes and hosts high quality cultural work which is by children, for children and about children (3 – 14 years).

Enjoy!!

Cathy

Ps I always get a lot of comments about my DNA piece, I made it not long after finishing my MA when I without a studio and a job, wondering if I was going to be able to continue in the arts. I made it from the site where I now live. I was living in a mobile home at the time, the green in the background is my beloved spruce forest whose fallen twigs form the DNA ‘backbone’. It found its way into the Irish Times, the New York Hall of Science, and is permanently on display in the Department of Zoology, Trinity College, Dublin and in private collections.