The Living Fabric, an exhibition of work by artist Teresa Doyle, opens Tuesday 21st February at 6pm in The Atrium, Westmeath County Council Buildings, Mullingar. The exhibition will be opened be by writer and broadcaster, Manchán Magan. The exhibition runs until the 3rd of March.
The work for Teresa Doyle’s long-awaited exhibition, The Living Fabric, began during the Covid-19 lockdown. The beginning of this body of work came through pieces of material and clothing people had kept of their loved ones.
Teresa wanted to honour these materials, and so began to work with them. Since then, Teresa has created dolls rich in symbolism, which people connect with in meaningful ways. Memory, story and people are at the heart of Teresa’s work.
Lockdown and its strange, unfamiliar and unknowing space was the time in which the dolls for this exhibition were created, with the support of the inaugural Westmeath Arts Office Artist Bursary Award. Aspects of Teresa’s work as a painter are seen in her use of texture and tone as she envisages and creates the doll and its “story”. Each doll becomes a unique entity with its own name.
Teresa’s artwork continues to develop and be shaped. Supported by the Westmeath LEO Office, she has developed her collection of Bespoke Handmade Dolls. She is also a member of the Design and Craft Council of Ireland. As the Covid restrictions were lifted, Teresa found new inspiration for her work through her engagement with the public at markets and fairs. Most recently, Teresa exhibited three dolls based on the interaction and exchange of people at the market in the Luan Gallery in Athlone.
Teresa Doyle’s career as an artist in Westmeath has spanned over three decades. In that time, she has negotiated the road of artist, mother, art facilitator and community activist. After her graduation from Limerick School of Art and Design in 1982, there followed a period of study in Italy, through an award from the Italian Cultural Institute. Teresa joined the eighties exodus to America and lived in New York for ten years. She returned to Ireland with her husband and first child Thomas in 1993, settling in county Westmeath.
During those three decades she has exhibited her work, initiated arts programmes and formed diverse art groups. In 2007, alongside artist Edel Reilly, she launched an international postcard project entitled An Post C Both Sides, in collaboration with An Post and the Westmeath County Council Arts Office.
About the Westmeath Arts Office
The Arts Office provides support for the professional, voluntary, community and amateur arts sectors in Westmeath and provides information and advice to the community on Arts related issues.
Since the development of the Arts Office in Westmeath in 2001, the County Council has expanded its support for and contribution to the arts in County Westmeath. The County Arts Office aims to promote access, appreciation, awareness and enjoyment of the arts for all citizens of County Westmeath and also aims to stimulate interest in and promote the knowledge and appreciation of the Arts throughout the County.