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UID:822@https://flypost.ie
SUMMARY:Soft Spot — Helen O'Leary
DTSTAMP:20260420T065639Z
DTSTART:20260327T100000Z
DTEND:20260530T160000Z
DESCRIPTION:The Dock presents Soft Spot\, an exhibition by Irish artist Hel
	en O’Leary that\nforegrounds reuse\, repair\, and ecological thinking as g
	enerative artistic\nstrategies.\n\nRaised in rural Ireland in the 1960s an
	d 70s\, O’Leary’s formative ethos — “if\nyou can’t make it\, you can’t hav
	e it” — continues to inform her materially\nrigorous practice. Over decade
	s\, she has developed a distinctive formal language\nbuilt from modest mat
	erials and unglamorous gestures: dismantled supports\,\nreused canvases\, 
	exposed joins\, residual paint. Her works occupy a dynamic space\nbetween 
	painting and sculpture\, blurring categorical boundaries while insisting\n
	on the physicality of their making. \n\nO’Leary’s constructions respond to
	 what she describes as a “flipbook of faith\,\nmoney\, possibility\, belie
	f\, absurdity\, disappointment\, and the ethical collapse\nof so many syst
	ems that never worked for so many.” At The Dock\, this sensibility\nis sha
	rpened through what might be termed a form of studio archaeology: earlier\
	nworks are disassembled into rudimentary slabs and reconstituted\, transfo
	rming\nfailure and obsolescence into fertile ground. Grids buckle\, suppor
	ts tilt\,\nsurfaces carry the memory of prior use. Fragility and resilienc
	e coexist in what\nthe artist has described as an “ecology of form.”\n\nSo
	ft Spot situates painting as a site of rupture and restoration. Through\nc
	ircular processes of reuse and repair\, O’Leary aligns artistic method wit
	h\nregenerative thinking and ethical making. The exhibition also activates
	 her\ncommitment to environmental practice and local engagement. Elements 
	of The\nSustainable Studio\, developed with artist Kim Flick\, will unfold
	 during the\nexhibition alongside glimpses into the artist’s dye garden an
	d a DIY museum\ninitiative — durational and participatory frameworks that 
	extend the gallery\ninto a space of collective enquiry.\n\nIn Soft Spot\, 
	vulnerability is not weakness but structural condition: a means\nthrough w
	hich inherited systems — aesthetic\, ecological\, institutional — may be\n
	taken apart and reimagined.
URL:https://flypost.ie/event/soft-spot-helen-oleary-1
LOCATION:The Dock Arts Centre - St. George’s Terrace\, Carrick-on-Shannon\,
	 County Leitrim\, N41T2X2.
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CATEGORIES:carrickonshannon,exhibition,leitrim,thedock,visualart
X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:<p>The Dock presents&nbsp;<em>Soft Spot</em>, 
	an exhibition by Irish artist Helen O’Leary that foregrounds reuse, repair
	, and ecological thinking as generative artistic strategies.</p><p>Raised 
	in rural Ireland in the 1960s and 70s, O’Leary’s formative ethos — “if you
	 can’t make it, you can’t have it” — continues to inform her materially ri
	gorous practice. Over decades, she has developed a distinctive formal lang
	uage built from modest materials and unglamorous gestures: dismantled supp
	orts, reused canvases, exposed joins, residual paint. Her works occupy a d
	ynamic space between painting and sculpture, blurring categorical boundari
	es while insisting on the physicality of their making.&nbsp;</p><p>O’Leary
	’s constructions respond to what she describes as a “flipbook of faith, mo
	ney, possibility, belief, absurdity, disappointment, and the ethical colla
	pse of so many systems that never worked for so many.” At The Dock, this s
	ensibility is sharpened through what might be termed a form of&nbsp;<em>st
	udio archaeology</em>: earlier works are disassembled into rudimentary sla
	bs and reconstituted, transforming failure and obsolescence into fertile g
	round. Grids buckle, supports tilt, surfaces carry the memory of prior use
	. Fragility and resilience coexist in what the artist has described as an 
	“ecology of form.”</p><p><em>Soft Spot</em> situates painting as a site of
	 rupture and restoration. Through circular processes of reuse and repair, 
	O’Leary aligns artistic method with regenerative thinking and ethical maki
	ng. The exhibition also activates her commitment to environmental practice
	 and local engagement. Elements of The Sustainable Studio, developed with 
	artist Kim Flick, will unfold during the exhibition alongside glimpses int
	o the artist’s dye garden and a DIY museum initiative — durational and par
	ticipatory frameworks that extend the gallery into a space of collective e
	nquiry.</p><p>In&nbsp;<em>Soft Spot</em>, vulnerability is not weakness bu
	t structural condition: a means through which inherited systems — aestheti
	c, ecological, institutional — may be taken apart and reimagined.</p>
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DESCRIPTION:Soft Spot — Helen O'Leary
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