BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN
TZID:Europe/Dublin
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/Dublin
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:503@visualartists.ie
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Dublin;VALUE=DATE:20250912
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Dublin;VALUE=DATE:20251027
DTSTAMP:20251003T090630Z
URL:https://visualartists.ie/events/the-gardener-digs-laura-mcmorrow-at-th
 e-rha-gallery
SUMMARY:The Gardener Digs | Laura McMorrow at the RHA Gallery
DESCRIPTION:\nLaura McMorrow’s paintings draw on found imagery of figures
  working in the garden\, altered landscapes (topiary and hedging)\, plants
 \, and people enjoying gardens and green spaces.McMorrow learned everythin
 g she knows about gardening from her mother Gillian. An avid gardener and 
 obsessive weeder\, Gillian tended to her garden in North Leitrim by making
  decisions about which plants belong and deserve to self-seed and which be
 come a nuisance. Her approach to gardening was naturalistic and looked eff
 ortless\, but she was extremely dedicated to her craft.\n\n\n\nOut in the 
 garden\, in all weather until dusk\, it became a form of therapy for her a
 s she suffered with a chronic and fatal illness. The garden became a sanct
 uary for Gillian and a source of inspiration for Laura who began researchi
 ng and making work about gardens in her studio practice. Poet and gardener
  Ross Gay describes time spent gardening as “an exercise in supreme atte
 ntiveness”\, a trait it shares with painting.\n\n\n\nA stop motion anima
 tion created using a paint on glass technique is exhibited alongside the p
 aintings. Each frame is hand painted\, giving it a painterly and expressiv
 e aesthetic. The animation illustrates a quote by the filmmaker Derek Jarm
 an in the book Modern Nature\, a journal of his time spent gardening in Du
 ngeness shortly after he discovered he was HIV positive.\n\n\n\nThe garden
 er digs in another time\, without past or future\, beginning or end. A tim
 e that does not cleave the day with rush hours\, lunch breaks\, the last b
 us home. As you walk in the garden you pass into this time — the moment 
 of entering can never be remembered. Around you the landscape lies transfi
 gured. Here is the Amen beyond the prayer. Derek Jarman.\n\n\n\nMcMorrow i
 s interested in a personal exploration of the garden as a sanctuary and a 
 space of refuge. However\, she is also questioning the complexity of garde
 ning in a time of climate emergency and the futile act of attempting to co
 ntrol and tame nature. The transition to a more ecologically friendly appr
 oach to gardening\, for example\, growing a wildflower meadow instead of a
  lawn. McMorrow embraces this duality of gardening as a form of therapy an
 d its disposition in the greater context of our time.\n\n\n\nLaura McMorro
 w is a visual artist from Leitrim. She holds a Masters in Fine art from th
 e University of Ulster in Belfast (2012) and she graduated with a degree i
 n painting from Limerick School of Art and Design (2008). Her practice inc
 orporates video installation\, animation\, sculpture\, collage\, and paint
 ing.Recent solo exhibitions include The Gardener Digs at The Dock and The 
 Lost Acre at Leitrim Sculpture Centre. Recent community art projects inclu
 de a collaborative animation project with teenagers funded by Creative Ire
 land and a sensory mapping project with Leitrim Cycling Festival.McMorrow 
 is part of the collective\, who run an artist-led studio and experimental 
 space in Manorhamilton\, Leitrim. Her studio is currently based in the col
 lective space. In 2023\, the collective worked together on a collaborative
  project called Waking the Land that considered environmental grief\, supp
 orted by the Irish Hospice Foundation.\n
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://visualartists.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025
 /08/listings-exhibition-2-1-1.jpg
CATEGORIES:Exhibition,Leinster - Dublin
LOCATION:RHA Gallery\, Royal Hibernian Academy\, 15 Ely Place\, Dublin 2\, 
 Ireland
GEO:53.337076;-6.254702
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Royal Hibernian Academy\, 1
 5 Ely Place\, Dublin 2\, Ireland;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=RHA Gallery:ge
 o:53.337076,-6.254702
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:Europe/Dublin
X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/Dublin
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
DTSTART:20250330T020000
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:IST
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
DTSTART:20251026T010000
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:GMT
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
END:VCALENDAR