Exhibition Launch: Friday 18th September, 5-8pm - Culture Night at Leitrim Sculpture Centre, Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim.
Gallery opening times - 11am - 4pm Wednesday to Saturday.
Exhibition runs until 4pm Sat 17th October
Matters of Process is a new exhibition series exploring the work of artists who completed a Technical Development Research Residency (TDR) at the Centre the previous year. During their residencies, artists experimented with a range of materials, objects and processes investigating the often-hidden forces embedded in their making. The exhibition brings these processes into view, revealing how they shaped the emergence of new work and ideas.
Brenda Kearney
Title: The Flower Songs II
This work is part of an ongoing body of work, 'The Flower Songs', a series of objects and arrangements emerging from intuitive engagement with the intersecting worlds of culture and nature. The work is informed by visits to ethnographic collections, readings in contemporary anthropology, and seasonal walks in nature.
The hanging fabric is unbleached muslin with plant dyed silk appliqué, accompanied by a suspended arrangement of dock plants. An assemblage of ceramics, plants and shells invites slowness in looking; these small, unknown-but-familiar artefacts invite us to explore and make meaning. Raw, unprocessed clay gathered near Tullyskeherney plateau sits near a terracotta vase, with a local clay slip and horsetail plant ash glaze.
'The Flower Songs' embraces process rather than resolution, and a deliberate shift towards slower ways of making and looking. The works bring together gathered, made and found materials, allowing connections between objects, materials and place to emerge through the process of arranging. Rather than beginning with a fixed outcome, the work develops through intuition, attention and a willingness to leave things unresolved.
Vanessa Donoso López
Title: Leitrim Sculpture Centre 2026
Through the exposure to new languages and cultural symbols, I have internalized shared meanings, values, and norms that reshape my sense of identity and my understanding of the world.
This installation works with primordial materials—particularly clay—to create what I refer to as "transitional objects." These objects serve as tangible manifestations of the multi-cultured, absorbed symbols that help me navigate through the complexities of these new realities and new locations, in this case, Leitrim. Clay, with its sustainable nature and physical characteristics, embodies repetition, transformation, and the timeless connection to place and to human history.
My interest in ancient forms like clay tokens reflects a fascination with the ways in which humans have historically used objects to communicate and preserve meaning.
The addition of lights introduces the suggestion that objects can possess their own experiences and realities beyond how humans understand, perceive, or use them
Margo McNulty
Title: from the earth- an iteration
.. from the earth have sprouted cushions on which these bones lie like relics, cushions of moss and grass .. (Heinrich Boll)
Through painting, printmaking and photography and using the Deserted Village in Achill as the subject, this exhibition continues my exploration into how our personal and collective histories become embedded within land, objects, and cultural traditions. The title, 'from the earth', come from a quote from Heinrich Böll's writing about the Deserted village. This evocative image of the earth as a keeper of memory, where traces of lives lived become absorbed into the landscape and re-emerge through time. Drawing upon Irish folklore archaeology, archival research, and lived experience, the work in 'from the earth': an Iteration continues with that quest to uncover hidden narratives and reveal the complex relationship between landscape and remembrance. The earth functions as both material and metaphor: a repository of stories, a witness to generations of human activity, and a living archive where histories endure beneath the surface. Like the moss and grass in Böll's text, which gently reclaim and protect what remains, the work in this exhibition consider acts of preservation, recovery, and transformation. They ask how the land remembers, what is carried forward through generations, and how cultural memory continues to shape our present understanding of place.
Anna Spearman
Title: Untitled
Anna Spearman's studio practice is process led and is concerned with the curious and playful language inherent in both object-making and painting, along-side a fascination with the material world. Her approach to making is to start from a place of openness, to welcome the sense of uncertainty and the possibility of being surprised.
David Spence
Title: Investigation into the cymatic images produced by solfeggio/monaural beat drone pipes on a 500mm chladni plate.
The theme of the TDR residency evolved from an ongoing enquiry into acoustic archeology and sound therapy. Spence created unique twin drone pipes/whistles, that combined the 9 solfeggio frequences offset to produce a monaural beat at the 'Schumann resonance'.
The Solfeggio frequences are commonly used in sound therapy to activate the chakra points of the body. This is aimed at raising the mental state as higher frequences are played. Medical research exploring the 'Schumann resonance' has shown that this resonance moving away from the 7.83Hz baseline is associated with increased cardiac failure. The aim therefore of these pipes are to raise the chakra frequencies while providing a grounding beat.
Aside to exploring the sound produced by these pipes as a response from sound therapists, Spence proposes that therapeutic frequencies should produce coherent patterns as exposed using chladni plates. For the exhibition Spence has constructed a large chladni machine that permits the exploration of Therapeutic frequencies at this larger format.
Statements and Biographies
Brenda Kearney
Brenda Kearney is a multidisciplinary artist based in the northwest, and a studio artist at the Model (2022–2028). She is an associate artist of Kids’ Own, and was recently a resident artist on The Wonder Programme, a residency project in Sligo’s Early Years settings, supported by Sligo Arts Service and the Arts Council of Ireland. She has a background in anthropology and classical music, both of which inform her visual arts and multidisciplinary practice. Her material explorations span clay, textiles, drawing and food, alongside walking, foraging and gathering.
Alongside her studio based practice, she co-develops collaborative community projects, often focusing on food and shared meals. This has led to a wide range of work, from community feasts and seed exchanges to handmade ceramics and collaborative publications. Her practice explores the dynamic interconnections between animals, plants and people, often through playful encounters with materials, objects, food and the natural world.
Statement
My work is inspired by environment and nature, domestic work and skills, ritual and myth, and feminist art and craft lineages. These interests are connected by ideas of care: for materials, for place, for people, and for the relationships that develop through making.
I work guided by intuition and curiosity, grounded in research. This approach is influenced by my background in anthropology and an ongoing interest in contemporary anthropology, particularly Anna Tsing’s invitation to look around rather than ahead, and Tim Ingold’s ideas of thinking through making. More recently, this has become something closer to ‘unthinking through making’, allowing materials, processes and intuition to lead rather than beginning with an idea of an outcome.
I am interested in the poetic qualities and potential of materials, particularly natural and traditionally domestic materials, and in ideas of myth and meaning: how we imbue objects with meaning, and how they influence us in return.
I am increasingly interested in resisting the idea of finished work, embracing slowness, works in progress and the possibility of leaving things unresolved. Following my residency at LSC last year, my focus has turned towards foraging and arranging: gathering, noticing and making with sensitivity to the natural world.
Vanessa Donoso López
Vanessa Donoso López (born Barcelona, Spain) is based in Dublin. Vanessa studied Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona, the School of Arts and Design Llotja, Barcelona and the Winchester College of Art, UK.
Donoso López’s work unfolds through an installation process that engages in a dialogue between cross-cultural identity, migration and the elements emerging from this transitional space. She uses a variety of processes, including archaeological experimentation, collaborative clay sourcing, drawing, and conversations around repetitive object making.
Vanessa Donoso López’s recent solo exhibitions include: Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin (2026), LexIcon Gallery, Dún Laoghaire (2025); Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin (2011–2022); Galeria Herrero de Tejada, Madrid (2021); Candyland, Stockholm (2017); The LAB, Dublin (2016); Limerick City Gallery (2015).
Public works and collections include: Glucksman Gallery Collection, Arts Council Collection, ‘Graft’ commissioned by Glucksman Gallery and The National Sculpture Factory, Cork, 2022, ‘Day without cars’ commissioned by The City Council Cultural Company, Dublin, 2019, ’The time capsule project’comissioned by the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, 2017, OPW collection, ’70th anniversary’ commissioned by IDA, Dublin, 2019.
Recent awards; Vanessa is a recipient of the Arts Council Project Award 2025/26, Arts Council Bursary 2024/2022, Konvent Artist residency award, Barcelona 2025, Leitrim Sculpture Centre Residency award, Leitrim 2025, Cal Gras Residency award, Barcelona 2024, Entorns Art Residency Award, Lleida, 2023, La Rectoria Art Residency Award 2019.
Vanessa has been a member of La Escocesa Art Centre, Barcelona, since 2023, and is currently on a three-year membership at Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, Dublin. Vanessa Is represented by Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin.
Margo McNulty
'From the earth' presents new and recent works by Margo McNulty, an artist whose practice explores the relationship between memory, place, and materiality. Mc Nulty’s work often draws upon Irish traditions and investigates hidden narratives that shape cultural identity. Through painting, printmaking and photography, she reflects on how personal and collective histories become embedded within objects and landscapes.
Born on Achill Island, Margo McNulty is a visual artist and Fine Art graduate who holds an MFA from the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), Dublin. Over the past five years, McNulty has received several awards including the Markievicz award. She has undertaken numerous residencies, including the Jackie Clarke Collection Residency in Ballina in 2021. In 2023–24, her residency at Kilmainham Gaol Museum culminated in the exhibition Voices. During the summer of 2023, she participated in an international residency at the Frans Masereel Centrum in Belgium. In 2025, she undertook a residency at Leitrim Sculpture Centre and at Esker Arts Centre, Tullamore, culminating in the exhibition from the earth, curated by Catherine Marshall in early 2026.
Anna Spearman
Anna Spearman is a visual artist working from the Yard Studios in Ballisodare since April 2026. She has a diverse practice including sculpture, painting, animation and socially engaged work. Recent and upcoming exhibitions include solo show, Ballina Arts Centre - (October ’26), Invited Guests with Kian Benson Bailes and Orla McHardy, The Dock - 2025, Wilton Park studio artists, RHA - 2024 and Lusus, Courthouse Gallery - 2024. Residencies include a Technical Development residency at the Leitrim Sculpture Centre (2025), studio residency at the Dock (2024-2025), RHA and IPUT Wilton Place residency (2022), Sottish Sculpture Workshop (2022) and a number of residencies at KCAT studios in support of a long term collaboration with artist Margaret Walker. Anna’s work is included in the Arts Council’s collection.
David Spence
David Spence is an artist and film-maker living in North Leitrim. He works extensively with the communities of the area and has publishd histories and guides of Manorhamilton. As a craft designer, he was a technology teacher and a model engineer at Bassett Lowke and the Rover group where he primarily worked in wood and plastics. His interests in ancient history influences his currrent work exploring the use of sound frequences and its thereputic uses. This combines the creation of new instuments and the visualisation of their sounds. History also plays a key role in his ongoing support for retaining old knowledge and skills, particularly in the craft of woodworking. Spence's exhibitions include Lurganboy development association, 1999; New Sites New Fields, Leitrim Sculpture Centre, 2008; TRADEResidency and Exhibition – Leitrim County Council, 2011; Harnessing Creativity Project - Creative Ireland Manorhamilton and Belfast, 2015 – 2017; Communities in Reminiscence - Creative Leitrim, Manorhamilton, 2021
Curated by Sean O'Reilly.