Sulphur | Orla Whelan

Sulphur is an exhibition of new work by visual artist Orla Whelan. Building on her longstanding interest in geology and colour, in 2025 Orla undertook research in collaboration with The Fold art and geology group, focusing on specimens of elemental sulphur from UCC's rock collection. Initially drawn to the intense colour, Orla's research interests deepened to include the invisible crystalline structure embedded within the rocks various outward formations, as well as its historical roles in alchemy, industry and astronomy. Representing the soul in alchemy, sulphur was considered to be one of the three primes (along with mercury and salt) from which all matter was comprised, and from which any material could be created. In addition to its transformative potential and intense array of yellows, the artist considers its hidden chromatic capacities - while lemon-yellow in solid form, sulphur becomes a molten red liquid and emits a blue flame when burned. Weaving science, intuition, materiality and magical thinking through the formal language of abstraction and the materials of painting, this exhibition of new work presented at Lavit Gallery includes a floor-based painting on plywood and paintings on linen, alongside sulphur specimens kindly loaned by UCC Geology Department. 

Orla Whelan is a visual artist working primarily in painting. Her work takes abstraction as a field of possibility in which to speculate on all things invisible or intangible. Eschewing figurative imagery and narrative device, she employs the basic ingredients of painting (colour, form and surface), to create abstract visual propositions for an image-saturated world. Although abstract, her paintings borrow their palette and forms from the world around them, frequently inspired by geology, cosmology and architecture. In recent years, Orla's practice has expanded to include marquetry, writing, site-responsive interventions and collaborations, which have been developed alongside series' of oil paintings on linen. 

Orla's recent solo exhibitions include Coloured into Shape at Hillsboro Fine Art (2024), Coloured by Weather at Custom House Gallery, Westport (2024), Glas, Gorm, Uaine at the Pearse Museum, OPW (2023) Magnum Chaos at Hillsboro Fine Art (2023), and I Don’t Need Anything From Here (magic-carpet-painting) at RHA Gallery (2022). Her book Matter Mammal Oil Soar was launched at the Dublin Art Book Fair at Temple Bar Gallery & Studios in 2021. Orla is founding director of art publishers Whale Dust and artists' collective AtHomeStudios. Her practice has been supported by The Arts Council of Ireland and her work is held in the collections of The Arts Council, Crawford Art Gallery, and The OPW State Art Collection. She is represented by Hillsboro Fine Art Gallery Dublin. 

The Fold is a cross-disciplinary research group founded in 2024 by Jess Franklin. It brings together artists and geologists to explore geology as a source of inspiration for creative practice through exploration, dialogue, and embodied engagement with the natural world. Co-designed with artists to ensure a creative-led ethos, the group is supported by a standing committee that guides its programming. The Fold meets bi-monthly through a varied programme of Seminars and Sharings, Open Days, and Field Trips. Its artists work across diverse practices including dance, film, visual art, poetry, photography, sound, and sculpture. Geologists in the group are affiliated with University College Cork, as well as specialists from industry and retired professional practice. Through these partnerships, artists gain structured access to academic expertise, geological collections, and technical resources typically held within the university, creating a framework for shared inquiry and mutual learning. This ongoing exchange between artistic and geological perspectives continues to generate new ways of engaging with the natural environment as a source of insight and inspiration. 

The 2026 Lavit Gallery programme is kindly supported by Arts Grants from The Arts Council of Ireland and Cork City Council.