Serena Caulfield spent most of her childhood in Boro Hill House, County Wexford. She was surrounded every day by a menagerie of animals including horses, dogs, cats and hens. Her parents ran an equestrian centre, legendary across Ireland, which drew riders of all ages to that part of the country. The experiences and memories of animals and people congregating for moments of unadulterated joy have been a huge influence on Serena’s recent paintings.
The work in this exhibition began as a reflection on a collection of paintings that her family once owned. Serena is reclaiming those historic paintings away from the sole preserve of the male painter and presenting those works using her ultra vivid, contemporary and female view point. We are seeing the paintings that Serena encountered as a child as well images from her childhood, playing with her sister and other friends. Dressing up. Going on adventures. By fusing historical works of art with personal memories she is creating another kind of collection, one that is very personal but also universal.
Imbued in these paintings is a curiosity about the world and how things work. The titles for the paintings come from work of literature and poetry that have been important to Serena, but these are not meant to reveal the answers. Instead, Serena wants us to look, observe and contemplate everything in the exhibition and bring our own perspectives to bear.
Serena Caulfield
Serena Caulfield is an artist who makes paintings. Memories morph into tall tales. Invented imagery invites novel narratives. Transforming old to new, past to present, absence to presence, here to there, she likes to paint quickly and think slowly.
Recent solo exhibitions include Ballina Arts Centre, Garter Lane Arts Centre, Luan Gallery, Solomon Fine Art and Wexford Arts Centre. Her work has featured in group exhibitions nationally and internationally including BEEP Painting Biennial Wales, Boyle Arts Festival, Butler Gallery, Royal Ulster Academy Annual Ulster Museum, and Zurich Portrait Prize at the National Gallery of Ireland and Crawford Art Gallery.
Recent awards include The Arts Council of Ireland Visual Arts Bursary, Platform 31 Artist Award, an Artlinks Visual Arts Bursary and an Arts Council Agility Award. Serena has an MA in Fine Art from NUA, Norwich, UK (2009) and a BA from Gorey School of Art and Wexford Campus School of Art and Design, IT Carlow.
Her work is held in private, public and corporate collections nationally and internationally, including The Arts Council of Ireland and Wexford Municipal Collection.
The Remnants and The Ruins runs from the 17th of February to the 30th of March and is curated by Eamonn Maxwell.
This exhibition is supported by The Arts Council of Ireland and Donegal County Council.
