Emergence - an exhibition at the Watergate in Kilkenny

“Emergence” , an exhibition by Pilar Cereto and Krisztina Rozanich was officially opened at the Watergate Theatre earlier this month and it will run until January 15.

Emergence is a new exhibition by two Kilkenny artists, Pilar Cereto and Krisztina Rozanich. This exhibition follows on from Pilar Cereto’s strong debut while it marks a return to the art world for Krisztina Rozanich.

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While at first glance these two artists’ works are distinctly different, Pilar’s work engaging in portraits of women who have been overlooked and overshadowed in history, Krisztina’s work conveying an expressionist view on the landscape, their common ground can be found in the celebration of the essence of femininity.

Both of these women work with mix-media, employ bold colour , layering, strong composition, mark making and abstraction.
Pilar Cereto was born in Malaga, Spain in 1980. Pilar’s first trip to Ireland was in 2000 which began a long lasting relationship with the country. Having graduated in Dublin in accounting, Pilar went on to work in finance for hedge funds, consulting firms and account management. Her work finally brought her back to Ireland in 2018 and in 2020 she left her finance career to dedicate herself to art.

Pilar has subsequently studied under a variety of artists including American artists Caren Gingsberg and Martin Campos and German artist Cathrine Edlinger-Kunze. Her current work draws its inspiration from the hidden women in art’s history.
Krisztina Rozanich was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1970 to Hungarian parents. She graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in Fine Arts Painting. In 2001, Krisztina moved to Dublin where she pursued her work as a full time artist. She had exhibited widely in Ireland before moving to Budapest in 2005, where she continued to exhibit. She has exhibited in Ireland, Hungary, USA, China , Greece, Cpress, Japan and Russia. In 2010, Krisztina took a hiatus from the art world to immerse herself in sheep farming. 2022 marked her return to full time painting.

Her current work draws its inspiration from the shapes and forms created by modern agriculture. From her home and studio, you can see the land transition from the rich lowland fields to the wild landscape of Mt. Leinster and the Blackstar's Mountain range. As a part-time sheep farmer Krisztina’s interests lie in hill farming, a very different aspect of farming when compared to that of tillage farming.

“I am fascinated by the architectural elements that tillage farming creates, almost imposes on the land. The land becomes a very rational, structured landscape, in opposition to the wild landscape of a hill farm. It is if man was dominating the land, putting his mark upon it, changing and creating the world around him. It is in contrast to the wild untamed land that you would encounter on a hill farm, where you have to work with what is there, as opposed to creating it,” she said.
While focusing on these structured elements, it appears as if these landscapes were depicted in a way that reminds us of the untamed, irrational aspects of the natural world. It is a movement from the poetic to the rational or perhaps the opposite, a movement from the rational to the poetic."