Damer House Gallery host exhibition exploring grief by artist Jenny Fox

Damer House Gallery in Roscrea are currently hosting a fascinating exhibition by talented artist Jenny Fox which explores the compicated emotions surrounding grief and loss.

In conversation with the artist she mentions the quiet space of sitting with loss. Where most will busy themselves to drown out the overwhelm of grief, some bravely sit with it.

Fox’s father, an upholsterer, passed suddenly, leaving a workshop full of unfinished work. The artist found a comfort in the physical restoration of these pieces; finishing her father’s work, a learned skill passed from father to daughter.

She understood the warp and weft, the woven fabric, a symbol of sorts. In completing the chairs, she had found a way to visually express the process of grieving.

Fox had previously made work using the detritus of her garden and she had begun to gild thorns.

When she found herself in the aftermath of her father’s passing, the rose thorns surfaced again. In her own words: “I sat and gilded rose thorns. Their endurance, beauty and ability to inflict pain.”

The artist aimed to complete one for everyday she had spent with her father. 16,726 days. Somewhere in the process of gilding, the methodical repetition, the work became about sitting with ourselves.

From a personal story grew a body of work that speaks to the human condition.

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Each room in Damer House Gallery sings with symbolism. The chair. The thorns. The entangled barrier of grief. And time, passing. The artist invites us to sit in that quiet space and unpack our own grief.

The exhibition, which is curated by Therry Rudin is open from the 14 June, Tuesday- Sunday 10.15am-5pm. It will be officially launched on Saturday 21 th June at Damer House Gallery, by Melanie Scott, Tipperary Arts Officer, Tipperary Co. Council, 3pm- 5pm.