Limerick City Gallery of Art (LCGA is delighted to host her exhibition, Common Thread,  by Limerick-based artist, Maighread Tobin. This will be Tobin’s first instituional solo show and  will centre on her continued passion with gardens. It is timely that we should be coming out of the interminable gloom of “lockdown” to the lightness of this exhibiton – a veritable Garden of Earthly Delights

Tobin has worked on this exhibiton over the past three years and within all seasons, and she has studied and extracted materials from numerous gardens, made studies and created work inspired by the natural environment.The artist has developed a body of work that explores a particular environment she has visited many times, the National Botanical Gardens in Dublin. Spending time in this unique environment has allowed her to research a diverse collection of tropical plants and other exotic species many of which cannot be seen anywhere else in Ireland, creating works that will incorporate both oil and mixed media on gesso board.

In realising these paintings Tobin does not wish to recreate botanical accuracy but to experiment with a varied colour pallet, structures and shapes, ultimately enjoying the experience of working closely with her twin passions of nature and paint. The artist will also investigate the notion of cataloguing the progression of plants throughout the seasons, documenting their changing forms and colours. Tobin is a graduate of LSAD and has recently started painting which is move away from her sculptural work for which she has a strong reputation.

My sincere thanks to Niamh NicGhabhann  for her insightful essay and to Frances McDonald for her illuminating  conversation with the artist.  I also want to thank the amazing team here at LCGA. I  wish to thank the wider public whose continued support, in these post-Covid days, allows us to recognise the importance of galleries, such as LCGA, for their redemptive role while we navigate our way back to normality.

This exhibition will continue the Gallery’s  interest in exploring works with a botanical focus and conlcude the three-year cycle which included the work of Karl Blossfeld, Naomi Draper and Fiona O’ Dwyer.

I also wish to acknowldge our main funding bodies; Limerick City and Counnty Council and The Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon whose financial support enables us to push artistic boundaries and engage with the public in a meaningful way

Above all I want to extend my sincere thanks to Maighread for working so generously with us to ensure that we could introduce this new body of work to a loyal audience and bring her work to the attention of others.

Una McCarthy, Director/Curator, May 2021

This exhibition will continue LCGA’s  interest in exploring works with a botanical focus and conclude the three-year cycle which included the work of Karl Blossfeld, Naomi Draper and Fiona O’ Dwyer.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication with texts by Niamh Nic Ghabhann and Frances McDonald.