Tree Drawings on the Sky

Sarah Walker

Oliver Sears gallery is pleased to announce a new exhibition of tapestries by West Cork resident Sarah Walker.

 

During the winter of her mother’s death - the art critic Dorothy Walker -  the artist spent much time driving through Ireland between the caring needs of a sick parent and those of a young family. On her daily journeys, the images of leafless trees against the low-lit sky took on an unexpected poignancy and visually made her think of line drawing.

 

This imagery stayed with her during an intense period ferrying her sons around the country for boxing matches. Ultimately, this gave rise to a series of paintings which became ‘The Boxing Diaries’ which were shown at the gallery to great acclaim in 2015. During this period the artist also painted trees using thick impasto to contrast the objects with a flatter background or foreground. She saw that this particular technique would translate very well to tapestry, a medium familiar to her from the work of Patrick Scott, her late mother’s best friend. The tapestries also formed a link between the boxing works – her very first tapestry was based on a painting of her son training on a strand – and the deeply personal time of reflection during the gradual demise of her mother. 

 

The tapestries for the exhibition were made by Dixons (previously V’Soske Joyce) in Oughterard, Co Galway by the same craftsman who made Patrick Scott’s designs in the 1960s.

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