Marianne O’Kane Boal reflects on the drawings of Lelia Henry, which underline the unending passage of time
Lelia Henry’s practice centres on drawing and her subject matter focuses on her local environment and familiar scenes. Her mark-making is scrupulous. Looking closely, she attends to details in the world around her. ‘I enjoy the slowness of drawing and I like that it takes time,’ she says. There is a meditative catharsis inherent in her work process that occurs instinctively. Working outdoors, Henry sketches initially in pencil and works up to larger-scale drawings in charcoal and graphite in her studio in Co Westmeath. The artist cites Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Turner as influences and is particularly drawn to 17th-century Dutch landscape drawing.
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