So Much Water [so] Close to Home

SO MUCH WATER (so) CLOSE TO HOME takes the form of painted documentation, or record, of what Kiely perceives around her immediate environment. Also in the wider world, on TV, news, newspapers and internet, on an increasingly frequent basis as climate change takes a stronger hold on our world.

The title ‘So Much Water So Close to Home’ is based on a short story by the late writer Raymond Carver, which explores themes of doubt, disconnection, conflict, identity and isolation. Kiely has used the title firstly in a personal and literal sense, as there is so much water so close to her home on the river Nore and feels that the language and concepts of Carvers’ themes equally applies to human emotion in the face of the devastation experienced by victims of flooding and natural disasters. The Luan Gallery in its situation on the Shannon river is an ideal location for this work.