“These spaces feel theatrical even in abandonment. I’m interested in the moment when structures built for permanence begin to yield to time, to neglect, and ultimately to nature.”

Taylor Galleries presents Daphne’s Theatre, a new exhibition by Dublin-based multidisciplinary artist Beatrice O’Connell. The exhibition features paintings of abandoned theatres and institutional interiors where architecture gives way to encroaching vegetation, suggesting moments of quiet transformation.

Drawing on the myth of Daphne and informed by the work of Samuel Beckett, O’Connell combines painting, photography, and mixed-media collage to explore fragility, decay, and renewal. Recurrent motifs of scaffolding and derelict structures reflect on the instability of systems designed to endure, while nature emerges as a persistent, restorative force.

Speaking about the work, O’Connell says: “These spaces feel theatrical even in abandonment. I’m interested in the moment when structures built for permanence begin to yield to time, to neglect, and ultimately to nature.”

Beatrice O’Connell is a multidisciplinary artist based in Ireland with an international practice spanning nearly three decades. She has held solo exhibitions at Taylor Galleries (2024), Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, and the Hunt Museum, Limerick.