Janice Creenaune meets Moira Kirkwood, a long-time resident of Coledale. At work, Moira helps others to navigate our aged care system; at home, she finds release through painting. Photos supplied
Moira Kirkwood is warm and welcoming from the first, which gives us an immediate connection. Moira has a background in nursing and her caring nature extends not only to her work in the welfare sector, but beyond – to the environment that envelops her house and even to the world of her art.
At 61, Moira continues to energise herself to produce abstract works of art that show irregular angles, glorious shapes and both intense and muted colours. With a nod of respect to the works of Piet Mondrian, Moira’s work examines honesty on canvas. “I always found the visual arts scene to be highly mysterious, until a conversation with a neighbour,” Moira says. “A simple task of a plaster-cast body cast and the ensuing discussion left me realising it was artistic, and that I was indeed an artist. So I left nursing and began studying full-time at West Wollongong TAFE.”
At TAFE, Moira found her true self.
“I found my tribe through creative expression in TAFE. It was a totally cynical and short-sighted move by the government to close it down.”
Moira’s work is almost exclusively abstract and 2D in effects in painting, colour, texture and mark-making. “There is no representation of anything really, but it is definitely the process which is important. I don’t plan. I rid myself of all preconceptions and feel as if I act like a channel for the creative force. It is not really about me but emptying myself so that a universal creative energy finds a way. Just like water finds an easy channel in the landscape.”
Moira works in acrylic paint, charcoal, pen and ink, and many collage elements. “I go in with a wide canvas, trying not to close off all possibilities, and up until the very last stroke I am prepared to brutally edit.”
Some works can take two weeks, some may take months. “It is for me primarily, but when I am finished I am able to part with it and really I am delighted if somebody else wants to enjoy it. I must admit my art is a luxury. It is personal but I place no real pressure on myself because I’m fortunate enough to have other paying work.”
Moira finds moments of joy in her work.
“There are no shortcuts. It has to be the real thing, an honesty to the work must come through. But I can triumph too. I can say ‘I am proud of myself, I stuck with this and worked through the issues. I have surmounted obstacles in my path but I had the tenacity to keep going.’”
Moira has a solo show at Timbermill Studios in Bulli at the end of August and is exhibiting with four other artists in Balmain in July. “I enjoy working with others to organise group shows. An artist’s life can be challenging; we all need to support each other.”
Writer Janice Creenaune is a volunteer for the PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease) Foundation. For more info, contact janicecreenaune@gmail.com
