Grafter - a solo exhibition by Casey Walshe at Joseph Wales, Margate.
2A Dane Hill, Margate, Kent. September 24th - 28th, 11am - 4pm daily.
PV Friday September 25th 6-8pm
Hoping For Everything, Wanting For Nothing
At first asked not to be read
But I will rise to meet your ease,
With sharing,
Your lightness and your laugh
We are a winter garden
And I, a gardener,
Must graft.
A grafter is not a gift giver, they are a worker – sleeves rolled up, no complaining.
Grafting is a gardening method that joins two separate plants together so they grow as one. The main parts involved are the scion (the upper shoot or branch with desired flowers) and the rootstock (the lower rooted base)
A grafter creates composites; they cut samples and merge them with rootstock. Grafting is a winter activity, mostly – except for bud-grafting in summer, for certain fruit plants, and for roses. Both the bouquet and the bud-graft start with a cut flower; but one will fade where the other finds its roots, again. Tough to do, though. You graft and tend and see if it takes; grit, skill, time. Grafting asks more, but it's a braver prospect: re-tethering beauty to growth. Tenderness as a long game.
My partner and I have transplanted ourselves to Margate. We are immigrants in love. We can’t find a good potato in Thanet for love nor money. But we can find a huge sense of expansion; a root system of people and energy that is truly focused on art, and is guiding us both. I have been steered on to a new path, a much needed pivot. The painter I was, in Dublin, in Ireland was struggling to grow, especially in Dublin's dried up city - dozens of art spaces now replaced with hotels. With a bit of hard graft, I have re-emerged with a new sense of urgency, curiosity, wonder and heat. Hoping for everything, wanting for nothing. Tenderness as a long game.
Here, in this exhibition a figure in blue sleeps on a bed of Hollyhocks, feeling the red hot sun. Dreaming. Another figure (Cool Guy) sits on a ledge in leisure. Calm; taking it all in - the glowing pink sunrises, the white chalk cliffs. Portraits appear, scenes from my life and memories, nods to Derek Jarman and words of encouragement. The exhibition marks a new chapter and speaks to bravery, risk, taking a leap and embracing change.
Re-tethering beauty to growth.
Casey Walshe