Double Edged

In this exhibition both McLoughlin and Murray interpret the landscape to evoke questions from the viewer on how we use environment to mirror both our emotions and our movement through life.

Margaret McLoughlin-  The bogland landscapes of Ireland—particularly those in Counties Wicklow and Leitrim—have long been at the heart of McLoughlin’s work. Through printmaking, she explores these richly textured terrains, seeking to capture the fleeting, atmospheric moments that define a sense of place.

She is especially drawn to the dual sensations that wilderness can evoke: a deep sense of peace intertwined with a subtle unease. There’s something profoundly compelling about being alone in a remote, untamed landscape—where solitude can feel both comforting and unsettling. Her practice centres on capturing the essence of these moments, when sudden shifts in light or weather transform the ordinary into something beautiful and extraordinary but also brings a hint of menace and vulnerability -the double edge of wilderness.

Rather than aiming for literal representation or topographical accuracy, she evokes this mood and atmosphere: in the weight of a low sky, the softness of winter light, the hush that follows snowfall. These elements allow her to express the ever-changing emotional undercurrents of the landscape—how it feels to truly be there, in that fleeting moment. Senses are heightened and there is a undercurrent of danger in being truly alone in this untamed landscape.

Bairbre Murray- On an island in the space between land and sea, what will appear?   What is coming for us?   If we go over there, past the edge of the world, what awaits us?

Sometimes the view is clear, sometimes obstructed by weather, sometimes by the limits of our own vision.   What do we choose to notice? And how do we choose to interpret what we see?   Are the omens good or bad?

The island is both a physical and metaphorical space.

It’s where we live, here, in Ireland, never more than a day’s walk from the sea.

It’s a space in life and emotion from where we can begin a journey and a place we return to, a space we can share and a space we can defend.

Standing on the edge of the island, looking out to sea, we are on the cusp of possibility.

Gallery opening hours during July and August:  Monday- Friday 11-4pm.  Closed for lunch 1.30 – 2.30pm.  September onwards:  Tuesday- Saturday 11-4pm.  Closed for lunch 1.30 – 2.30pm.