Kerry exhibition by Longford artist explores the memory held in our DNA

Síamsa Tire in Tralee, Kerry is Ireland's National Folk Centre. It's a Mecca for exponents of any and all members of the country's artistic community. The centre has facilitated musicians, singers, dancers, and artists of all shades in the last three decades.
The heritage centre is currently playing host to Longford woman, Ciara Tuite, who recently launched her third solo show at Siamsa Tire.

Ciara is renowned for her colourful abstract expressionist work and this exhibition, The Body Remembers, investigates the body's ability to hold memory. Speaking about her latest exhibition Ciara wrote: “Within my body holds the gene to my mother's mother and before, that all the eggs my mother had was me, and she alone was in my grandmother which makes the maternal tie so long....and strong until the day that we were fish out of water and in it.” The artist believes the body remembers what the mind forgets. She explores this belief by delving into the physicality of painting and how mark making is an inherently human impulse.
The display showcases 26 paintings of varied sizes, accompanied by Ciara's poetic text. Two 10 metre long installations, one a colourful carpet like feature, are juxtaposed alongside a black and white sculptural piece of the same length.

For the past eight years Ciara has engaged with the Cill Rialaig Artist Project in Ballinskelligs set up by Dr Noelle Campbell-Sharp in 1992. Cill Rialaig mimicked the ethos of the The Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig, Monaghan to provide a nurturing environment in which artists could create. Ciara's local links remain strong, she has a studio in Athlone at the Abbey Road Studios, which is connected to the Luan gallery. Back in Tralee The Body Remembers installations sit opposite two projections, one black and white and the other in colour. The prominent theme is the animalistic nature of humans and forward movement through the age.

“Movement and migration is in our blood, hence my constant interest in travel and by going between the midlands and Ballinskelligs on the edge of the country it often satisfies that urge to move,” the artist said. This series of works is not only influenced by movement in the travel sense but also in the physical and artistic sense as she is referencing various art movements from the past like abstract expressionism, but further back again to the time people laid down marks as a symbol on sand, on the rocks and ancient cultures like the Babylonians discovery of 360 degrees and the Theariantrophic forms seen in prehistoric Egyptian times.

With her background in Journalism, Performing and Fine Arts, this exhibition displays the multifaceted approach the artist has to her art: “I am always intrigued by what our body holds onto and how and why habits are formed due to our genetic ancestry from our call to dance and chant and our animalistic traits. I believe my art is trying to honour the aspects of changing marks throughout the ages and the places I have been and my ancestors before me.” The majority of Ciara's work is about body and memory based on her interactions with place, people and self. She has just returned from India where she completed an intense yoga teacher training.

The Body Remembers is not to be missed and is a treat and intrigue for all the senses. It runs until the end of the month (October 25) for anyone who finds themselves in the capital of the Kingdom. You can keep up to date with Ciara's journey on www.ciaratuite.com.