For the summer of 2025, Propeller Gallery, the Toronto based artist run gallery, invited Virginia Eichhorn to curate the exhibition “Misneach”, an inspring idea in troubled times.
“Misneach (Irish) encompasses a blend of courage, hopefulness, bravery and spirit. It can allude to pushing forward, one paw in front of another, through doubt or snow. Brighter and less bellicose than bravery, misneach lingers longer with uncertainty, even as it carries on lifting each tired limb. It knows tears and is changed by them, damp from trying. But continuing on nonetheless.”
Two works were selected for inclusion, taken from Kathleen’s Ophelia Revived, a narrative series addressing the struggles of female adolescence.
Unlike Shakespeare’s archetype of Ophelia, it is not unrequited love pulling these girls into the deep waters of despair; it is societal expectations, social media, and unrealistic standards of body image that drown their confidence. A black background proved to be the ideal base for these emotions. Images float on an open, vast picture plane. The subject appears lost at times. The figure could not be revealed without this darkness behind the coloured marks. In this narrative, Ophelia grabs hold of a lifeline within herself, floats to the surface, and is revived. These works relate to the exhibition theme through the expression of courage, and hopefulness despite the obstacles of modern adolescence.
