Art is within reach!

A fascinating exhibition exploring the cycles of creation and destruction will open in Cork city on Friday.

Presented by Backwater Artists Group, ‘Reach out, pull Me closer’, is a solo exhibition by Cork city-based artist Murrough O’Donovan running from tomorrow to 16 April at Backwater Artists Group, Wandesford Quay, Cork city.

In his latest exhibition, O’Donovan looks to construct a ritual space where the viewer is drawn into the natural cycles of creation and destruction present in all living things while meditating on how these have been warped by human activity.

The installation also considers the loss of ritual in modern culture and how this may have damaged people’s connection to the world around us. O’Donovan questions whether society can create a renewed bond that will allow a return to a more balanced relationship with non-human life and the biosphere.

O’Donovan uses partially sculpted pieces of a fallen beech tree, taking inspiration from the ‘world trees’ of ancient mythologies, to represent the body of the earth, upon which various processes and materials propose a metaphorical reflection on the effects of the Anthropocene on the planet.Murrough O’Donovan was born in London in 2000 and moved back to the family farm in West Cork in 2009. He completed a QQI Level 5 course in Art and Design at Cork College of Commerce, West Cork Campus in 2020. He graduated with first class honours in fine art from MTU Crawford College of Art and Design in 2024.