Current
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Tree of Life
Padrig Morin 16 Apr - 16 May 2026 Padrig Morin amalgamates symbols – Celtic from his native Brittany in France; Buddhist and Hindu from a lifetime living, working and researching in Sri Lanka. In recent years, his art draws parallels between ancient cultures across continents and histories.
The Tree of Life is a universal symbol, but it occupied a central place in Celtic beliefs and worship. It symbolises the connection between Heaven and Earth, mind and body, the physical and spiritual, the seen and the unseen. Ancient Celts believed trees were the ancestors of men. For Padrig, it is an act of re-appropriation, reclaiming, or re-signifying cultural symbols, forgotten or erased by the Christian religion or by the dominant culture. The persistence of an intuitive or atavistic memory links modern Celts to the memory of their ancestors, reflecting a vision in which the tree acts as a fundamental bridge between people, nature, and the sacred.
Other symbolic elements included in Padrig’s works are birds, dogs and numbers, as they intimately blend with certain aspects of the tree of life. Birds are sacred messengers between the natural and supernatural worlds. They often represent deities, signifying wisdom, protection, and the souls of the departed. Dogs are symbols of loyalty and protection, associated with healing gods - their images found at shrines throughout the ancient Celtic world.
Padrig Morin paints civilisations’ contentions with the spirituality of symbols and the power they hold over us. His work also speaks to a loss of cultural identity, through his own experience growing up in France, where the Breton language and its Celtic roots were overshadowed by French national language and culture beginning several centuries ago.
Symbols represent ideas that keep traditions alive. In Padrig’s paintings, we see the yearning for invigorating those symbols once again, drawing on their power to connect people and spiritual practices throughout the world. Read more -
Memories of Yaalpanam
Catharina Danial 30 Apr - 23 May 2026 "Time can make a feeling fade but the memory of a first love never fades away." - Samuel Timothy McGraw
‘My art is a representation of the beauty of my home, Yaalpanam-Jaffna. Through my work, I recollect my lived experiences of Jaffna before and after the war, and how it changed over time. I recreate them through landscapes. I translate my memories into works addressing the vividness of childhood recollections- Though faded, they hold significant emotional value.
My work employs collage and mixed media as a conceptual framework to explore memory and heritage. The palette dominated by earth tones and monochromatic hues creates an antique, nostalgic atmosphere that invites reflection. Through layered textures and subtle gilding, the works reconstruct Yaalpanam, not as a static relic, but as a living, evolving memory. The exhibition aims to offer viewers an immersive encounter with this reimagined Yaalpanam, encouraging personal reflection and dialogue. My intention is to create a space where the audience does not merely observe, but emotionally interacts with the work.
This exhibition expresses the essence of Yaalpanam as I experience it - a blend of nostalgia, resilience, and beauty. My practice is rooted in archiving: the homes, kitchens, daily lifestyles, traditions, and histories I have witnessed and inherited. I cannot return to those days, but through my art, I keep them alive.’
- Catharina Danial Read more
