Carrick-on-Shannon artist to showcase her work in the Leitrim Design House

The Leitrim Design House are proud to showcase the work of a local artist in a new exhibition titled 'Mayhem, Miracles and Quiet Conversations' by Barbara Browne on view from November 15. 

This selection of works uses traditional collage techniques. Images are carefully harvested from vintage books and digital archives. These, together with hand-printed papers, pressed foliage and salvaged ephemera, are re-compositioned and re-interpreted to form new narratives which explore our most common yet intimate experiences.

Barbara lives and works at her home near Carrick-on-Shannon. She grew up in the suburbs of New York and completed her degree in fine art at St. Martins College London. 

Barbara stayed on teaching in London and continued to teach in Indonesia. For nearly 20 years, Bali and Southeast Asia became her neighbourhood. 

Observations and experiences gained through travelling, teaching, and immersion into various communities have moulded her perceptions and inevitably found their way into her work.  

In her travels and daily living, Barbara collects anything she can repurpose into her work, the ephemera that assists us in everyday living, functional items, barely noticed and often disposable. Repurposed into surreal narratives and, at times, weighted with symbolism. 

Assorted papers chosen simply for their pattern or colours, Barbara cuts, paints, stains, draws or sews onto them. 

She sees diagrams, charts, maps and manuals as unique languages of communication and are necessary if "we're to share a particular understanding. These visual guides and instructions help us make practical sense of ideas, places and things," she said.

Barbara utilises photographs and images collected from various places, including vintage books, old calendars, magazines, online public digital archives, her travel photos and her family album.

"These photos of people in their anonymity become each of us and therefore play an essential role in each narrative. Pressed leaves and flowers collected mostly from my own garden to add another layer of texture and composition. 

"I often start my pieces with a background of colour, texture and/or pattern, creating a backdrop onto which a story can unfold. Sifting through my collection of materials, I choose whatever speaks to me, laying these items out around me like a scrambled code or unmade puzzle.

"Juxtaposing images and materials begin to reveal a narrative, and the piece takes on a direction, which I hope speaks to a wider audience about the things that make us human. 

"These works are my response to everyday life like pages of a diary trying to make sense of experiences both collective and personal. To wondering and wandering, to love and fear and hope. Immersed in a world where we are inextricably linked," Barbara told the Leitrim Observer. 

Barbara Browne's exhibition continues on ARTWALL until January 6 and is well worth a visit. 

For more information, please get in touch with 071 9650550 or https://leitrimdesignhouse.ie/. 

Visit The Leitrim Design House in the Dock Art Centre, a beautiful 19th-century building in the heart of Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim.