What do you think this sculpture is made from?

Veil, a remarkable piece of sculpture by Rachel Parry. Photos: HK Stuart.

A remarkable exhibition called ‘Na Cailleacha, The Age of Reason/Unreason, PART 4’ opened in Garter Lane Arts Centre on March 31 and will run until April 30.

Na Cailleacha is a collective of five visual artists, one jazz musician and a curator/writer who have come together to explore being female, older and hopefully wiser. The artists are Helen Comerford, Barbara Freeman, Patricia Hurl, Catherine Marshall, Carole Nelson, Rachel Parry, Therry Rudin and Gerda Teljeur.

The exhibition, curated by Na Cailleacha’s curator, Catherine Marshall includes a number of stunning pieces that are based on a new iteration of Child’s Play, a project based around life-sized rag dolls, which begun during a residency at the Ballinglen Art Foundation in 2021.

It includes a piece (pictured above) by a newcomer to Na Cailleacha – Rachel Parry –  who exhibits ‘Veil’, a remarkable piece of sculpture composed of woven spider’s webs and cotton thread.

The exhibition also features a new video work by Therry Rudin and Patricia Hurl, ‘the moon is set in motion and the golden plated stars appear’, 2022, work by Barbara Freeman, Helen Comerford, Gerda Teljeur and the first public iteration of Carole Nelson’s Weyrd.

More familiar works will include The Ballinglen Prints, 2021, 8 prints in different media made in conjunction with Parallel Editions, and, in homage to the Guerrilla Girls, the poster ‘The Advantages of being a Cailleach artist.

There will be a public screening of Therry Rudin’s prize winning documentary, Dawn to Dusk, 2021, Soundtrack Carole Nelson, a film of the work of Na Cailleacha. (Best Documentary, International Film Festival, Washington DC., 2022), in the Theatre at Garter Lane on Saturday, April 23, which will be followed by a panel discussion chaired by Waterford News & Star columnist, visual artist, writer and columnist Catherine Drea.

Members of Na Cailleacha