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 ideas investigating the often-hidden processes and energies embedded in their making. The exhibition brings these processes into view, revealing how they shaped the emergence of new work.
In Brenda Kearney's installation, ‘The Flower Songs’, the artist creates an assemblage of ceramics, plants, shells, unbleached muslin and plant dyed silk. 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-Lopez's work unfolds through an installation process that engages in a dialogue between contemporary migration and a variety of media and techniques, including archaeological-scientific experimentation, local clay collection, drawing, and repetitive object making. From within this framework, she explores primary and emergent visions, conceived and developed from one’s original or native culture, at the same time, turning to primitive and historically significant materials, such as clay, earth, and stones, recognizing their importance throughout history and their role as anchors in the search for answers to universal uncertainties.
In ‘from the Earth’ Margo McNulty presents new and recent works that explore 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.
Anna Spearman's work 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 installation evolves from an ongoing enquiry into acoustic archeology and sound therapy. Spence creates unique twin drone pipes/whistles, that combine the 9 solfeggio frequencies , which are offset to produce a monaural beat at the schumann resonance. Spence proposes that therapeutic frequencies should produce coherent patterns which can then be visualised using a chladni plate. For the exhibition Spence has constructed a large chladni machine that permites the exploration of therapeutic frequencies at this larger format.
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.
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. Most recent Residencies and Awards: Arts Council Bursary 2024, Cal Gras Art Residency, Barcelona, Spain 2024, Entorns Art Residency, Lleida, Spain 2023, Arts Council Bursary 2022, Diversity Award, Solstice Art Centre, Ireland 202, Can Serrat Art Residency, Barcelona, Spain 2020, Jiwar, Barcelona, 2019, NAu Coclea, Girona, Spain, 2018, Temple Bar Gallery and studios, Dublin, 2014/18.
Recent shows: ‘la Fragua’ Fundación Botí, Córdoba, Spain, 2024, ‘remembering the future’ VISUAL, Carlow, 2023, ‘Immobile objects still moving’, Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, SWAB, Barcelona 2023, ‘Guides’. Linenhall Arts Centre, Sligo, 2022, ‘movements of immobile objects’ Kevin Kavanagh gallery, Dublin, 2022, ’collective attempt’, Can Serrat, Barcelona, 2022, ‘cuando una roca se rompe, se combierte en mas rocas’, Galeria Herrero de Tejada, Madrid, 2021, ‘color lab’, VCU gallery, Doha, Qtar, 2020. Vanessa’s upcoming solo shows include the Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin 2026. Vanessa has been awarded with a three-year membership at the Temple Bar Gallery and Studios in Dublin, 2025-2028.
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 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 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; TRADE Residency 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.