SYRA LARKIN: YOUR GALLERY CRITICS' CHOICE BY KATHERINE LEVY
Syra Larkin's work is oddly emotive. It is odd
because the visual immediacy of her art is procured through a very angular
style, echoing a Picassoian impulse to distort and exaggerate. Limbs
are edgily pronounced, the white curvy flesh standing out against a
monochrome background. The facial features are sharp but faintly suggested,
with more of an emphasis on the physical body. This suits her purposes
well. The duo portraits 'Carry Me' and 'Carry me Home' work as a complementary
pair in this instance. The former is more serene; two figures entwined,
one bearing the body of the other and both necks leaning into a mirrored
silhouette of affection. The splayed legs are both a vulnerable gesture
and a signal of intimacy. Trust screams out across this painting. The
latter portrait is darker and more dramatic; the landscape dull and
cold, the fatigued head bowing deep into the comfort of her bearer's
neck. An incongruous pair of bright orange socks has appeared which
adds a perverse warmth to the overall picture. The portrait of 'Mary
and the Whale' is equally eye-catching. Again we have the strange rubbery
limbs in the vein of Matisse's blue nudes, in this case wrapped lovingly
around the body of a miniature whale. There is something particularly
poignant about this painting. Instead of cradling Christ, this Madonna
is soothing another long-suffering creature. Larkin's painting seems
to raise issues of environmental significance. The weird embrace possibly
signifies a uniting of man and animal as key to worldly harmony. Or
it may simply be a portrait of a woman cuddling a whale.
Katherine Levy.
Going Solo
There’s something magical about Kerry, its ability to inspire
great art and artists is as legendary as its footballers. One such artist
who has made Kerry her home is Syra Larkin, and Louise Cody is hosting
an exhibition of figurative paintings titled Going Solo at Gallery 53
in Dublin.
“We’ve lived in the Maharees for almost 30 years,”
explains Syra. “We discovered the place by accident. My husband,
Chris, and I were holidaying in Ireland, visiting Chris’ relatives
in New Ross. His boss had hired a cottage in Kilshannig and couldn’t
make it so he offered us the cottage for a week. We fell in love with
the place immediately.”
Syra, who studied art at Hammersmith College of Art in London, and Chris
packed up their belongings in a tiny Renault and open topped trailer
and moved to Ireland in 1977. They’ve lived in the Maharees ever
since.
Syra’s love of her home and family life shines through in the
immediacy of her exquisite work. Using family and friends, the past
and present and images or ideas that she finds striking as the subject
of many of her paintings, Syra’s work evokes an almost Picasso-esque
view of the world.
Her paintings of a group of Pilot Whales that beached themselves in
the Maharees in 2002 and the tender care lavished on them by people
of the area reveals an empathy that is excruciating to behold, while
her painting of her autistic nephew, Eamonn, is, after a moments glance,
equally as revealing and indicative of autism, to my uncultured mind
at least, as one of my favourite films, Rain Man.
“When people ask me about my work I often feel at a loss to put
into words what I do,” says Syra. “I feel that in some way
everybody wants to tie you up into a neat little package but, like most
things in life, it’s not that easy to explain or understand the
things we do.”
Perhaps it’s best not to explain. Perhaps it’s best to simply
look and wonder at the beauty of the work.
