About

Lorraine Lawlor lives and works in Dublin and has a degree in Fine Art from Dublin Institute of Technology, now TU Dublin.  ‘Into Memory’ was her third solo exhibition following ‘Dirty old Town’ in the Talbot 101 restaurant in 2004 and ‘Landscape, Interrupted’ in the Ivy House, Drumcondra in 2008. She has also had work in group exhibitions and auctions. After a detour into children’s literature in 2013 she returned to painting in 2017.

She has also worked as a freelance workshop facilitator since graduating in 2002, and was a regular workshop leader in the Chester Beatty Library for over a decade, designing and leading workshops based on the Museum's collections.

‘Into Memory’ Axis Ballymun, Sept -Dec 2021

‘The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living’

Marcus Tullius Cicero

When we lose someone we try to find ways to cope with the loss and to keep the person with us. Myth, memory, superstition, mementos, dreams, nostalgia, religion, prayers, traditions, ceremonies, heaven, angels, graves, rituals, keepsakes, snapshots, stories, beliefs, poetry, places, family, photographs, memorials. These are some of the ways that we try to keep our memories alive and our loved ones with us.

This series of artworks was my response to losing my father in 2016 and an exploration of some of the above themes. The paintings are oil on canvas and the “remembrance plaques“ are mixed media collage on wooden blocks.

I have continued to focus on the above themes in my work and have been commissioned to do some remembrance plaques to commemorate and celebrate lost loved ones.

My new work has been inspired by the ‘snapshot’ theme, moments captured in time that would otherwise disappear forever. Some examples of this new work can be found in the gallery.