Leitrim based, award winning artist Harriet Myfanwy Nia Tahany is opening her first solo exhibition since completing her Masters in Fine Art at the University of Ulster in Belfast. Harriet, who lives in Dromahair was awarded the prestigious Taylor Art award by the Royal Dublin Society in 2007 after completing her bachelors degree in Fine Art at Sligo IT.

“Leprechaun Lolita” opens at the Art Mart Studios’ Gallery, located on the Mall in Sligo, the exhibition runs from 10th – 17th July 2010. The Art Mart Studios is an independent art space recently founded by three local Artists who use the space to create work, curate exhibitions and organise events to compliment the art scene in the North West.

Harriet presents new works which take inspiration from Lolita, the Japanese cultural street movement. She puts these themes into an Irish context by including stories and characters from Irish fairy tales. Harriet attempts to make Irish folklore accessible for today’s modern society by updating them through mixed media. Harriet has studied trends in global art and has adapted these for Irish representation.

Lolita is a Japanese street fashion inspired primarily by the clothing and general aesthetics of the Rococo and Victorian periods. This fashion movement started in Japan in the 1980s and has evolved greatly since. Nowadays Lolita fashion has grown to be relatively popular all over the world. There are many sub-cultures to Lolita, such as gothic lolita (leaning towards the dark side) or sweet lolita (incorporating the colour pink). Harriet adds Irish flavour to this trend in her multi-media representation to create a new Irish sub-culture to the movement, “Leprechaun Lolita”.

The exhibition is in various media, including watercolour, oil paint, sculpture and ceramics. Harriet also introduces new techniques to her portfolio in fabric and doll making crafts. These new techniques are well illustrated with “The Banshee”, a suspended ceramic sculpture incorporating both doll making and fabric crafts. Paintings include “The Phouka”, which are reminiscent of Harriet’s earlier works and the familiar duality of sweetness with darker undertones.

The exhibition opens on Saturday 10th July 2010  at 7.00 pm. All are welcome to come and celebrate this new collection of exciting work and to meet Harriet in person.

Best of Luck to the So Sligo Organising Committee on what promises to be a great event. Safety Wise Advice Services are delighted to be involved in the Festival and helping to manage health and safety effectively and in a practical manner during the weekend. If you are organising an event or festival in your [...]