 Image: Fiona Hayes, 'Archiving Hope', courtesy the artist. LHQ Gallery presents a solo exhibition at County Hall by Fiona Hayes. This work draws from the ever-surprising self-healing capacity of the natural world as seen through the re-wilding of an abandoned space. You are invited to the opening reception which will take place on Thursday 9 October from 5-6pm; all are welcome to attend. The exhibition will be opened by Christopher O'Sullivan TD for Cork South–West, with special responsibility for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity. Fiona Hayes is an emerging artist based in West Cork who will present work at the Foyer, Cork County Hall from 8 October to 25 October. In Archiving Hope, Fiona presents artwork that looks at the erupting biodiversity in an abandoned post-industrial West Cork gravel pit. The work is a deep mapping investigation into this raw ecological environment. Exposed by extraction, this disused 40-acre West Cork gravel pit is part man-made lake and part biological desert. Since its closure and in the absence of man, nature has taken charge. Wind-borne or ruderal plants whose nutritional requirements are modest are the first to colonise this bare and stony landscape. These are followed by succession species and by a multitude of invertebrates, insects, small mammals, and a diverse array of wild birds. Concrete blocks hold fragmented images of this new life and of the delicate flowers, herbs, grasses, and tiny trees that have erupted from between the stones and rocks. Printed and projected imagery documents the magical transformation within this accidental nature reserve. Archiving Hope opens to the public on 8 October and runs until 25 October at Cork County Hall in the Foyer on the Ground Floor. An artist talk will take place at 1pm on the 24th of October; all are welcome to attend. County Hall is open to the public Monday to Friday, 9 to 4pm. The exhibition is presented as part of the LHQ Gallery programme. LHQ Gallery is managed by the Library and Arts Service at Cork County Council, supported by the Arts Council. |
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