Critique | Olivia O’Dwyer, ‘HomeBird’ 

Kevin Kavanagh

11 January – 3 February 2024

Positioned on the wall facing the entrance, In the Morning (2023) takes my attention, upon entering Olivia O’Dwyer’s exhibition. Holding within it the emotional binary encompassed throughout the presented works, the painting features a robe-clad figure lying prone on a taut white sheet. The scene evokes a poignant return to bed, perhaps after the departure of children, yet her dressing gown ties appear to float, as if poised for freedom. 

There are another 13 works in the show, all oil paintings made last year. Guest Room (2023) expands on the empty nest narrative, the title transforming what may initially be perceived as a boy’s bedroom in primary colours. Hidden Mother (2023) sees the maternal presence as unneeded and shrouded like furniture. In Waiting (2023), a head cut off by the dark monolith of a door or curtain anxiously awaits a return. ‘HomeBird’ captures ordinary days that recur, one after another – more particularly the domestically contained, solitary life of the artist. 

O’Dwyer’s painterly style is a flat, graphic blend of figurative and abstracted elements; she cites Philip Guston and the Danish painter Tal R as influences. The artist’s quick, competent mark-making also reminds me of her late father’s background not only as an artist but as a signwriter. It is a style that says: “Look at the story I am telling.” Look closer, and there is an intense painterliness; the work of painting is on show, rubbed back to expose the canvas, creating the texture of carpet or, as in Shapeshifter II (2023), clearing space around the figure. Areas of thick impasto are worked up to a shine; visible brushstrokes are cross-hatched or applied thickly to create textile patterns, or frequently to denote a figure’s hair. Bed linen is worked repeatedly in the same direction as if to reflect the repetitive labour of their daily making. The artist’s colour palette is limited; dark brown, white, grey, medicine-pink, and a homogenous flesh colour predominate. 

The figure is often presented in part or turned away – legs, a proliferation of knees, in simple two-dimensions (my notes state “legs like cheese strings”). Yet, enough of a body to say, here is a person, and enough of a recognisable person to realise that this is the artist herself. Poses are attuned to the material substance of the figure, responding to the desire for movement and positioning in the present moment, often with humour. In Figure Ground and Something Else (2023), the figure is caught in the air as if mid-jump. In ShapeShifter I (2023) and BedHead II (2023), limbs stick out of the bed at angles. ShapeShifter II (2023) features a levitating body, while Triangle of Sadness (2023) shows the figure engaged in a yoga pose.

While it’s reasonable for a painter to study themselves – theirs being the body most available – this focus is more than convenience. It is solitude examined. Solitude, as distinct from loneliness or isolation, is embracing aloneness and focusing on one’s own presence rather than others. A further complexity teased out in this work is that of being a woman – encompassing societal expectations that we should have the primary responsibility for others – and a heightened ‘ethics of care’ that intertwines our identity and relationships, resulting in blurred boundaries and a more porous sense of self. Solitude for a woman, then, is a challenging proposition: to disengage from external connections and overcome social norms that view our solitude as selfish. Once achieved, shifting beyond the conventionally gendered gaze offers a break from role performance and prompts a shift in self-perception. Through a reclamation of sensual aliveness, she becomes a body for the self. 

An absence of human connections in solitude also fosters a deeper intimacy with our surroundings and non-human entities – a material phenomenon that allows objects to be felt as presences when alone. In ‘HomeBird’, the foregrounding of furniture and textiles is equal to the figure. This is O’Dwyer’s second solo at Kevin Kavanagh, the first being ‘A Mind’s Eye’ (18 October – 13 November 2022), which was an online exhibition, as necessitated by the global pandemic – our mass solitary experience. While ‘HomeBird’ is O’Dwyer’s exploration of what it means to be alone, it speaks beyond the individual to solitude, the body for the self, and the solitary gaze – vital parts of the female experience that are relatively overlooked and underrepresented.

Neva Elliott is a visual artist based in Dublin. 

nevaelliott.com