Elevation

Conor Gallagher

Saturday 24th May to Friday 27th June 2025

Elevation is an exhibition of recent paintings that explore the fluidity of memory and the present moment. These works reflect an internal picture of lived, remembered, and imagined experiences— records of shifting perception.

Influenced by zen, ink painting, abstraction, and photography, the paintings often take the form of landscapes or object studies. Yet, at their core, they examine the transient nature of the physical world and our ever-changing perception of it.

Through dissolving surfaces and shifting imagery, each piece embodies the instability of memory/ perception where impressions momentarily take hold, only to unfix and fade.

More recently, the work has focused on small-scale light sources; candles, fires, electric lights—drawing inspiration from the experience of winter storms in Ireland. In moments of electrical blackout, attention is drawn to the immediate environment while a vast expanse of energy roars overhead.

Each painting seeks to capture the animation, space, energy, and decay that vibrates beneath the world around us and our perception of it. - Conor Gallagher 2025