Two new solo exhibitions open at Custom House Studios + Gallery

Two new solo exhibitions will open at The Custom House Studios + Gallery, Westport, next week, bringing together new work by artists Niamh Coffey and Mags Duffy.

Siúnta, by Dublin-based artist Niamh Coffey, and The Faraway Nearby, by established Westport artist Mags Duffy, will officially open on Thursday, September 17, from 6pm to 8pm, with the opening performed by acclaimed poet Geraldine Mitchell. The exhibitions will run until October 18.

‘Siúnta’ by Niamh Coffey

In ‘Siúnta', Niamh Coffey weaves together separate narratives to create imagined ecological relationships. Informed by the concept of queer ecology, the exhibition challenges ideas of human exceptionalism and anthropomorphism, inviting us instead to consider ourselves as part of a complex, interconnected system in which patterns and processes operate beyond human experience.

Through imagined narratives, Coffey offers a playful and humorous invitation to consider new ways of interacting with and existing within the wider matrix of nature and the earth.

Coffey is a Dublin-based visual artist originally from Laois, whose practice encompasses textiles, drawing and sculpture. They graduated from the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in 2016 with a degree in Sculpture and Expanded Practices. Their solo exhibitions include presentations at Cultúrlann, Belfast; Pallas Projects, Dublin; Súil Gallery, Clare; and GOMA, Waterford. Upcoming solo exhibitions include shows at The Arthouse, Stradbally, and The Linenhall, Castlebar.

Coffey has been awarded Laois County Council’s Tyrone Guthrie Centre Residency Bursary and two Arts Act Grants.

‘The Faraway Nearby’ by Mags Duffy

‘The Faraway Nearby’ is a new body of work by established Westport artist Mags Duffy, exploring the remembered geographies and stories of her childhood.

In these paintings, Duffy considers the uncertainty between what is real and what is imagined, and the way memories can shift and merge over time. Through remembering and retelling, stories become something new, with each painting holding a fragment of a larger narrative.

Threading the works together is the river as it flows through Westport towards the sea, a constant presence through which memory, place and story intersect.

Duffy is a visual artist based at the Custom House Studios in Westport. Her multidisciplinary practice encompasses painting, textiles, photography and text, and her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Her work is held in public and private collections, including those of the Office of Public Works, Mayo County Council and the Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland.

Alongside her studio practice, Duffy maintains a parallel career in community arts engagement, with extensive experience across arts education, arts and health, and local community initiatives. Her work has been supported through commissions, bursaries and training by the Arts Council of Ireland, Creative Ireland, Mayo County Council, Galway County Council, the Shared Island Fund, Age & Opportunity, the Irish Hospice Foundation, Westport Family Resource Centre, the HSE and the Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland.

The two exhibitions will open at The Custom House Studios + Gallery, Westport, on Thursday, September 17, and continue until October 18.