Maura Kennedy

Maura graduated from Limerick School of Art and Design in 2019 with an Honours Degree in Fine Art. She lives outside the town of Borrisokane, Co. Tipperary and works out of a wonderful studio in the centre of Borrisokane. She enjoys being part of the community and having friends and neighbours drop in while she works. Maura is an abstract artist working mainly in oils and acrylics. She has exhibited in Backstage Theatre Gallery; Shorelines Art Festival in Portumna; The Sailors Home in Limerick; The Courthouse Gallery, Ennistymon, among others. Upon a sell-out final year exhibition in LSAD she was offered a solo show in The Backstage Theatre and Arts Centre, Longford. She is a member of Visual Artists Ireland. 

Shifting Reality was produced during lockdown in early 2020. At the time, we were not sure about anything, we were governed by everchanging rules and regulations, couldn’t plan for anything and our world shrank to a few kilometres around us. We discovered our environment on our daily walks, became intimate with the beauty of the natural features in our locality. The idiosyncrasies of the built environment that were taken for granted before, became features of interest. Observing the changing seasons, the growth, the changing colours, the increased wildlife activity. All these sights and emotions entered her art practice. Lucky enough to have a studio within the permitted travel distance, it became a saviour; a place where she could express her fears and hopes through her paintings. In looking at this abstract painting the viewer is invited to interpret its meaning for themselves. Is it a landscape, a seascape, an urban sprawl? Nothing is certain.The reality shifts as the eye travels. There are no people in this painting, just colour, texture, movement and emotion. And we are still uncertain about the future.