*Gráinne Moloney.
CLONLARA’s Grainne Moloney has teamed up with Ukrainian artist, Yeni for a joint exhibition of paintings now on display at Clare Museum.
By Siomha Perill
“My interests generally are in rural Ireland. I’m inspired by the colours, the landscape, the people, and the way of life,” Gráinne told The Clare Echo while discussing the exhibition which runs until November 11th.
Gráinne grew up in Clonlara on a busy farm where she spent her days creating. Following her completion of primary school, Gráinne attended Laurel Hill Secondary School Limerick. Here, it was a teacher, Ursula O’Meara, who suggested she should attend the Coporate College of Arts in Cork. “She really supported me and encouraged me to pursue art after school”.
She graduated with a first-class honour and was invited to Winchester School of Art in England, where she completed her master’s degree. Following her degree, she returned to Cork where she taught art in Crosshaven Secondary School, and later, returned home to Clare where she has her own studio in Bridgetown. “For a few years, I wasn’t in the position to do a lot of artworks with a young family”.
As her children grew up, Gráinne found more time to delve back into art. She currently teaches art to local primary school children after school and in camps she usually runs over the holidays. Three of her local art students have been selected for the Zurich Young Portrait Prize 2022, which takes place in November.
During lockdown, Gráinne joined a Facebook group about how to care for hens in Ireland. It was here she came across the most beautiful photograph of a young girl, Kayla, holding her hen. “Immediately I wanted to paint her”.
Having previously focused mostly on contemporary art, this was a new challenge. So, she began and Gráinne kept going until she completed the painting. Once completed, Gráinne entered the Zurich Portrait Prize Competition, something she had no previous experience in. Gráinne traced Kayla’s family and received permission to enter the piece. “She said I could and wished me good luck.”
About two months later, Gráinne received a letter stating that “Girl with Hen,” had been selected for the Zurich Portrait Prize. The painting stayed in the National Gallery in Dublin for nine months before being moved to on to the Crawford Gallery. “This was full circle for me. I used to spend my whole early twenties lurking around here, examining all the paintings. I knew the place inside out, so it was a real honour for me to have my painting in the Crawford Gallery”.
Following the Zurich Portrait Prize, Gráinne wished to display her work in her home county. She contacted the Arts Office and was offered a spot, paired with Yeni, originally from Ukraine. “It seems to be a very good pairing. I look forward to meeting her someday and to meeting Kayla.”
Her love for painting developed in her home. Everyone in her family always worked with their hands as most people do in rural farming families. “It’s the tradition, whether it’s making clothes or building. In rural Ireland people tend to use their hands. I suppose through building cubby houses between us at home or just drawing on the back of the cornflakes box.”
Ideally Gráinne would love for her painting to remain in Clare. “I suppose I just wanted the people of Clare that couldn’t make it to Dublin or to Cork that were interested in seeing it to show them.” She also revealed the painting was exhibited for one day at The East Clare Agricultural Show held in Bridgetown, which is the village she raises her family in with her husband. They exhibited it in their tents for the community and local people in July. “That’s the paintings story. The painting is finished its tour now”.
Yeni was born and raised in a small town. From an early age, she began to draw portraits of classmates, design posters and engage in all kinds of artwork at school. She participated in many art competitions and design classes, teleconferences and wrote, both on the walls and on canvases.
Most of all, Yeni is inspired by nature, the world of animals, characters from children’s cartoons, love between mother and cubs, and she also likes to depict a family idyll on her canvases. For her work, she has received a large number of awards and was written about in the local newspapers. She studied at the Moscow University of Arts.
In 2009 she organised an exhibition in Kyiv. Her paintings were bought by clients from Croatia, Taiwan, Ukraine, and the US. Yeni’s works are in the offices of Ukrainian politicians, collections of Taiwanese entrepreneurs and local NCKU professors, private homes of art lovers, restaurants, and some Irish families.
Yeni says “it is a huge pleasure to enjoy participating in art exhibitions here in Ireland” and she invites everyone to come and see her wonderful exhibition in the Clare Museum.
Gráinne and Yeni’s joint exhibition of paintings is currently being displayed in the Clare Museum, Ennis. This exhibition can be viewed until November 11th, 2022. All funds raised will be donated to Ukraine, to help treat and support wounded soldiers.
