Maria’s work considers the complexities that structure our everyday environment. Selecting things that already exist in the world for purposes of distraction, consumption or insulation, she configures a process of manipulation in response to their form and habitual purpose.

King House is located in Boyle County Roscommon and is currently home to The Boyle Civic Art Collection, The Connaught Rangers and the King Family museums. Maria McKinney has been commissioned to produce a number of small works that will be placed within the existing exhibits throughout the museum along with a more traditional display of her work that will be presented in the Long Gallery.

Some form of spiral can be detected as an underlying structural element through many of her previous works. For the rooms of King House, the unfurl of this turning shape is brought to the surface and attentively explored as the source of many natural processes.

Contexts:02

Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2015, the Boyle Civic Art Collection is unique in that it was formed through funds generated from sales during the annual Boyle Arts Festival. Its civic role is fulfilled through the community acting as custodians of the collection, presenting it in public spaces from retirement homes to schools. The Collection is regarded as one of the most comprehensive of its kind, containing seminal works by many of Ireland’s leading artists.

Contexts:02 will present a new narrative of the collection, bringing together works that connect to the thematic contexts in Maria McKinney’s work.

Curated by Naomi Draper (Boyle Civic Art Collection) and Linda Shevlin (Curator in Residence, Roscommon).