Installation View of Erin Lawlor’s “divining,” 14 - 27 July, 2025.
Photography by Ros Kavanaugh, Courtesy of Highlanes Gallery, Festival Printworks Gallery, Galway, Ireland.
While she has long seen painting as a space for both imagination and psychological exploration, her process — working horizontally and using a wet-on-wet [alla prima] technique — turns the canvas into a physical ground, shaped by focused, immersive labour.
Each painting captures a layered, evolving process — a moment in time built up through action and intuition — yet each one must ultimately hold together as a complete, cohesive whole.
The title divining speaks to both a careful, almost scientific reading of the surface, and an instinctive, emotional response. It also points to the search for something ideal or imagined, a sense of discovery that lies somewhere between the real and the hoped-for.
Erin Lawlor’s exhibition, “divining,” is currently on view from July 14 to July 27, 2025, at Festival Printworks Gallery in Galway, Ireland.
Aoife Ruane -