Absinthe & Absence by Jackie Hudson Lalor

Strule Arts Centre Omagh is delighted to present the touring exhibition, ‘Absinthe & Absence’ by acclaimed artist, Jackie Hudson Lalor. This solo exhibition was launched in the Droichead Arts Centre, Drogheda in November 2024 and then travelled to the Hamilton Gallery in Sligo in March 2025. It now opens at 7pm Thursday 4 September in Strule Arts Centre.

According to the artist, Jackie Hudson Lalor’s art practice features four strands: oil painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture. Her work is: “representational and detailed with a surreal sensibility” (Hudson Lalor, 2025).  She goes on to explain “an autobiographical narrative runs through my work, exploring issues around psychological trauma, interpersonal relationships and female agency.”  In the beautifully produced catalogue produced by Droichead Arts Centre to accompany the exhibition, Dorothy Smith, ARHA, Visual Arts Curator in Residence, shares that Hudson Lalor is clear that “the central theme of the work is grief.”

Jackie Hudson Lalor was shortlisted for the Zurich Portrait Prize in 2020 at the National Gallery, Ireland with her painting After the Storm. In 2020, she was also commissioned to paint a large-scale portrait of mathematician Katherine G Johnson for the Women on Walls initiative at DCU, with Accenture and Business to Arts.

The exhibition runs until Saturday 27 September 2025, 9.30am – 5pm, Monday – Saturday. Admission is free.