Isabel Nolan’s work is conceived as a means
of acting — of making a new thing — in the
form of images, texts and objects that have
no overt message but whose very raison
d'être is to assert the value of, and complexity
involved in describing subjectivity. She makes
works that are narrative driven: animations and
wall hangings that represent times of tension,
hope and anxiety; drawings that describe both

empathy and distance. Other works, such as
her paintings and recent sculptures are them-
selves tense; inscrutable but evocative; inti-
mate and inviting but with no obvious inherent
significance. Though there are frequent shifts
in tone, between coldness, bemusement,
melancholia and yearning, a point of entry
common to much of Nolan’s work is its
recognition of our seemingly implacable

compulsion to define our situation and our
relationships with others, our desire to
understand ‘everything’- from our inner lives
to the natural world.
                             www.kerlin.ie



Contact: gallery@kerlin.ie