Fragile by award winning local artist Colette Langan
We are delighted to celebrate a new exhibition of work by award-winning stained glass artist Colette Langan. Show your support for this local artist by attending the opening launch of this unique exhibition titled ‘Fragile’ at 1 pm Saturday, 31st of January. Colette is a much respected master crafts person based in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim, for a number of years. The artist shares with us her inspiration behind the main piece for this exhibition titled ‘Treasures of the Riverbed’: “In this work, I have used exclusively mouth-blown glass, much of it is sourced from defunct factories and no longer in production. These materials carry their own histories and limitations, reinforcing ideas of loss, value, and irreplaceability, echoing the challenges we face in our environment.”
Through a very technically challenging process that involved incorporating numerous small pieces and repeated curved forms, which required great precision and patience. The work is carefully constructed from glass Colette produced herself, using baking soda and self-taught processes to create bubble glass. The artist recognises the inherent vulnerability and resilience in glass and sees its functions as both material and metaphor, stating, “it transforms light constantly from day to night and throughout the year, enduring only through care, reflecting our complex relationship with the natural environment. Through these choices, this collection of work seeks to express the value of our environment, our shared storytelling, and our humanity — and to acknowledge how fragile all of these feel at this moment in time.”
Colette Langan is a highly respected craftsperson in her field, invited to contribute in the recent RTE documentary ‘Through the Glass Darkly’, a study of Harry Clarke. She was an invited panelist on the National Museum of Ireland's public discussion on ‘caring for stained glass in our custody’ and guest lecturer by the Glass Society of Ireland for the International year of glass’. Colette also took part in an international studio exchange facilitated by the Glass society of Ireland, the Spanish Society and the World Crafts Council. Colette’s talent has been recognised far and wide, having won a public commission for the Dromahair Library in 2024, selected for the prestigious RHA summer show the same year and chosen to be an Irish representative for CraftHub, DCCOI, Glasmalerie Peters, Germany in 2022.
Colette Langan heads a family run business restoring and designing stained glass. She trained in the UK, conserving medieval stained glass and is proud of the role she had in the conservation of glass from Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London and many other gems of Britain’s heritage. In her own right, she has restored and designed stained glass for places of worship, businesses and private residences all over Ireland, with work installed in England, Australia and the United States.
We're very proud to showcase Colette Langan's delicately crafted work. This exhibition is worth returning to at different times of the day, and as the seasons change, the work will subtly transform through the various shifts in light.
If you wish to support Irish artists by investing in Irish art, we welcome deposits which may be paid off over a number of weeks. Gift vouchers are another wonderful way to support your loved one in building their own personal art collection. Visit this exhibition and more in The Leitrim Design House, housed in the beautiful 19th century Dock Art Centre in the cultural quarter of Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim. Open Monday-Friday 10 am until 6 pm, Saturdays 10am – 5 pm.
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