Sruth
Sruth
Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh
Cuireann taispeántas Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Sruth, corpas saothar i láthair a leanann lena plé leanúnach ar theanga na péintéireachta féin. Agus í dírithe go smior ar cháilíochtaí ábhartha na péinte agus ar ghníomh fisiciúil na péintéireachta, diúltaíonn Ní Mhaonaigh do shrianta na hailleagraíochta agus téann sí i ngleic leis an bpéintéireacht mar fhoirm uathrialach, léiritheach. Is próiseas taiseolaíochta agus inmheabhrú é a cleachtas, seachas ionadaíocht, agus glacann sí leis an éiginnteacht agus leis an rithim a eascraíonn as gluaiseacht na péinte thar an dromchla.
Cosúil le file, aimsíonn Ní Mhaonaigh brí sna spásanna idir comharthaí agus foirm, san idirghníomhú idir infheictheacht agus ceilteanas. Le fiche bliain anuas, thug sí teidil aonfhoclacha Gaeilge ar a taispeántais aonair — Struchtúr, Cnuasach, Imlíne, Eatramh, Imeall, Ardán, gach ceann acu ag cur síos ar ghné den timpeallacht bheo: struchtúr, cnuasach, cruthlíne, eatramh, imeall agus ardán. Tugann an léacsacan seo atá ag forbairt le fios a buanseasmhacht leis an tslí a gcuirtear spás teoranta in iúl — na bealaí a bhféadfadh an phéint imill, teorainneacha agus tairseacha a shainiú, a thuaslagadh agus a athshamhlú.
In Sruth, faigheann an imní seo beocht úr. Sreabhann na saothair idir teibíocht agus foirm, ag tabhairt le fios tírdhreacha nó ailtireachtaí a fhanann díreach taobh thiar den aithint. Osclaíonn na pictiúir spás ina dtagann teanga, oidhreacht agus braistint le chéile, áit a mbíonn gníomh na féachana cosúil le sruth a leanúint: ag athrú de shíor, leanúnach, agus beo don nóiméad.
Tugann Sruth le Ní Mhaonaigh cuireadh don lucht féachana fanacht laistigh den tsruth seo, agus an phéintéireacht a bhrath ní mar léiriú, ach mar réimse beo, ag teacht chun cinn, de smaointeoireacht agus de mhothúchán.
Sruth
Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh
Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh’s exhibition Sruth — the Irish for “flow” or “stream” — presents a body of work that continues her sustained engagement with the language of painting itself. Innately concerned with the material qualities of paint and the physical act of painting, Ní Mhaonaigh resists the confinements of allegory, instead approaching painting as an autonomous and expressive form. Her process is one of exploration and suggestion rather than representation, embracing the ambiguity and rhythm that arise through the movement of paint across the surface.
Much like a poet, Ní Mhaonaigh finds meaning in the spaces between gesture and form, in the interplay of visibility and concealment. Over the past two decades, she has titled her solo exhibitions with single Irish words, Struchtúr, Cnuasach, Imlíne, Eatramh, Imeall, Ardán, each describing an aspect of the lived environment: structure, cluster, contour, interval, margin, platform. This evolving lexicon points to her enduring preoccupation with the articulation of bounded space — the ways in which paint can define, dissolve, and reimagine edges, boundaries, and thresholds.
In Sruth, this concern finds renewed vitality. The works seem to flow between abstraction and form, suggesting landscapes or architectures that remain justbeyond recognition. The paintings open up a space where language, ancestry, and perception converge, where the act of looking becomes akin to following the current of a stream: shifting, continuous, and alive to the moment.
Ní Mhaonaigh’s Sruth invites viewers to dwell within this flow, to experience