Exhibitions

A compelling mix of past and present work by Fermanagh artist Rachael Johnson will be unveiled this month in a solo exhibition at the Strule Art Gallery.

Born in Leeds in 1962 and raised in Enniskillen, Rachael left home in 1980 to study Fine Art, embarking on a period of travel and creative exploration that would shape her artistic voice. After returning to Ireland, she worked as an illustrator and community artist in Dublin, before turning her focus towards developing and exhibiting her own work. She now lives and works in Derry.

Rachael’s practice centres on richly layered mixed media paintings, combining materials such as oil and water-based paints, inks, pastels and charcoal with textured papers, organic elements, fabrics, and natural fibres. Metal, stone, wood and glass are also woven into her canvases, creating tactile, immersive compositions.

Her extensive travels across North Africa, South and Central America, Australia, India and Southeast Asia have deeply influenced her work, sparking an enduring interest in the role of art within ancient traditions and ceremonial healing practices. Themes of ritual, animism and archetypal symbolism frequently emerge, giving her work a sense of both mystery and universality.

Alongside her artistic career, Rachael completed an MA in Art Psychotherapy in Cork and has spent over two decades working in Northern Ireland as both an exhibiting artist and an HCPC-registered Art Psychotherapist. Her work has been shown in venues including the Clinton Gallery in Enniskillen, the Red Stables Gallery in Dublin, and the Laneway Gallery in Cork. She is also a member of Visual Artists Ireland.

Reflecting on her process, Rachael explains:
“Pareidolia is the human tendency to seek meaning in elusive imagery. I never know in advance what I’m going to paint. I apply, rearrange, remove and reapply layers of colour and texture with no direction in mind until a particular curve or colour resonates with something forgotten, hidden or lost. Emerging from sensory memory to find familiar form in the visual world, an inscape is alive with agency and inhabited by shapeshifters.”

The exhibition, Pareidolia, opens on Friday 1 May at 7pm at Strule Arts Centre. It will run until Saturday 30 May, open Monday to Saturday from 9.30am. Admission is free. For further information, visit www.struleartscentre.co.uk or contact 028 8224 7831.