Ten works, similar in size and subject comprise Mary Mulholland’s new exhibition Slowly Fading Forms. Almost a year in making, these works delivered with great restraint and skill celebrate floral beauty at the very moment of its’ turning. These paintings are haiku-like in apparent simplicity, nature’s presence and completeness.

Although these are founded in the floral still-life tradition, the compositional placement of the peonies is one equally informed by contemporary photography. Mulholland uses black space, size exaggeration and variable focus to command the journey of the viewer’s eye.

In this way, she unites the eye and mind offering contemplation of beauty as an active process. Titles of works such as How it Feels to Listen (2008), I Can See You with My Mind (2008) and Happiness and Self Abandonment (2008) encapsulate a philosophical and metaphysical intent.

Mulholland depicts each peony as a botanical specimen, building softness in space and establishing the harmonies of sound through her deft and authoritative use of light falling upon and amongst the flowers.