Soft Fascination Group Exhibition

The title ‘Soft Fascination’ was developed through group discussion and suggested by Christine Prescott. This concept has informed Prescott’s artwork, particularly her site-responsive practice of ‘forest-bathing’, and it has a broader resonance for the Bolay artists. At a time when technology and artificial intelligence are creating a virtual world that demands increasing amounts of our attention, it has never been more important to find pause points for looking and listening to nature. Attention Restoration Theory, with its fitting acronym 'ART', sees nature become the wellspring and source for attention restoration, for recalibrating ourselves. Attentional ecology is the means by which individuals respond to their environment, and if the environment is settling, peaceful and calming, then mental functioning operates on a similar trajectory, which can be helpful for informing creativity and a positive flow of thoughts and ideas. ‘The restorative attentional mode is soft fascination…or effortless attention. The pathways of a nature park guide navigation pleasantly, and the individual is free to get lost in their thoughts….As a result, their mental powers are renewed and can flourish’ (Pham and Sanocki, 2024).

Each of the artists has provided work for the exhibition that aligns with the theme of ‘Soft Fascination’. Genevieve King has created a range of watercolours that reflect her habitual walks and time spent in the grounds of Westport House. These paintings are initiated on site in the natural surroundings of the estate and they feature the boathouse, trees, forest and Carrowbeg River. The titles of the works echo the felt experience and quiet contemplation of the scenes ‘Still Season’, ‘Sentinel’, ‘First Light’ and ‘Last Mooring’. King works directly with watercolour and intuitively builds up her landscapes creating compositional depth and an ethereal ambience with trees and buildings faded in the middle ground. There is a balance achieved through the creation of watercolour and space on the page that reflects the emotion and restraint invested. Bridget Ryan also documents her local environment in her prints and paintings and she is interested in sharing the experience of what she knows well and feels deeply. For Ryan immersion in the landscape has always informed her practice and this is central to positively informing her wellbeing. Through documenting the locality, its textured fields, cottages, and lakes, Ryan traces the path of the day from dawn until dusk through light, colour and form.

Caroline Reapy observes the rhythm and flow of her home environment and is particularly drawn to the nearby Cloondroon Lake, where she sketches in charcoal by the water’s edge. She feels the connection with this local place enriches her life experience and understanding, as she attempts to discover the core of her fascination through continued investigation. Christine Prescott’s work epitomises the soft fascination response. In her wine drawings and installations with garlic skins, the very act of making is slowed down, repetitious, meditative and nourishing. She uses her work to create a soft space of reflection where she embraces a slower pace of production. Ian Wieczorek aligns the theme with the dialogue between artist and viewer where each artist works instinctively with their own processes and the consequent artworks act as an invitation to the viewer to encourage their own intuitive response to be formed and considered as they stand before the pieces within the exhibition.

T. P. Pham and T. Sanocki, ‘Human Attention Restoration, Flow, and Creativity: A Conceptual Integration’, Journal of Imaging 2024 Mar 29;10(4):83.

About the Artists

Genevieve King is an artist based at Custom House Studios, Westport Quay. She trained initially in Ballyfermot Senior College obtaining a Certificate in Art and Design, followed by a Higher diploma in art, design and textiles at Galway R.T.C. She has a B.A. (Hons) degree in Design and textiles from the National College of Art and Design. King has worked as community facilitator and an art educator at secondary and tertiary level. She is recipient of an Agility Award from the Arts Council of Ireland (2022) and the Mayo Artist Bursary (2022). Her work has been selected for ‘Carrying the Songs,’ a group exhibition in July 2026 curated by Martina Hamilton at the Pulchri Studio, the Hague, in association with the Embassy of Ireland in the Netherlands.

Christine Prescott’s work is both meditative and ritualistic. She uses natural materials and handcrafted processes to create both sculptural and two-dimensional forms that explore sites of nurture and nourishment. Prescott received a BFA from the University of Southern Queensland (2000) and a PGDip from the Victorian College of Arts, Melbourne (2002). She has exhibited throughout Australia, Ireland, Germany, Singapore and Indonesia. Her work has been supported by the Australian Council for the Arts, the Arts Council of Ireland and Mayo County Council Arts Service. Prescott’s solo exhibition of new work, Rites of Homing, is showing at the Custom House Gallery, Westport Quay from 9 July - 9 August, 2026.

Caroline Reapy is an emerging visual artist and graphic designer based in Ballindine, Co. Mayo. Reapy employs traditional and experimental processes incorporating charcoal, graphite and found materials. She also explores digital image-making, creating mostly monochrome and high-contrast mixed-media output exploring themes of impermanence and natural order. A 2024 graduate of ATU Galway, Reapy studied Graphic Design and Illustration at the School of Design and Creative Arts and her creative literary work is featured in their library’s permanent collection. Included in the Mayo Artists Show Exhibition 2025/26, she exhibited at both the Linenhall Arts Centre and Ballina Arts Centre, and is an awardee of the Mayo Artist Bursary 2026.

Bridget Ryan studied at G.M.I.T Galway (now ATU Galway), completing a Diploma in Art and Design in 2003, and a B.A. in Fine Art (Hons) in 2004. She has had solo exhibitions in the Gerard Dillon Gallery, Belfast, Streamline Salon, San Francisco and Whitney Modern Gallery, Los Gatos, California. She is a founding, and current member of Galway Print Studio. Ryan portrays old houses, farm buildings and the landscapes and seascapes of her native Connemara. The resulting pieces do not conform to the traditional model of landscapes, but come from her inner perspective of the unique character of those historic structures and the sparse, often desolate atmosphere of the surrounding countryside.

Ian Wieczorek is a professional visual artist working predominantly in painting, lens-based media, print and installation. Since 2003 he has exhibited widely both in Ireland, and internationally, with participation in group/curated shows in N. Ireland, Germany, France, Portugal, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Latvia, USA, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China; and solo exhibitions (17 to date) in Ireland, N. Ireland, UK and Czechia; and public art installations in Ireland and France. He has devised and curated 18 shows in Ireland, and has undertaken residencies in Ireland, UK, France and Austria. His work is engaged primarily with contemporary cultural experience, and the transactional relationships that exist between the individual and the global.

About the Curator

Marianne O’Kane Boal is a well-known curator and writer on art and architecture. She has written extensively on these subjects over the past 25 years. She writes for the Irish Arts Review, Circa, Perspective, Living Design, Visual Artists Newsletter and Architecture Ireland. She has curated over 50 exhibitions in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Marianne completed her PhD in Social Research at ATU Sligo in 2023. She is President of the Irish Section of AICA (International Association of Art Critics) and Expert Advisor on Art for the Ministerial Advisory Group on Architecture and the Built Environment in Northern Ireland. She has been delivering webinars and professional development workshops for Visual Artists Ireland for over fifteen years since 2009 on curating, creative proposals, presenting work, writing about practice and public art. She has presented at conferences in Zurich, Prague, Chile, Belfast and Dublin.