This exhibition explores the idea of “aesthetic nomadism” within painting, tracing the movement of thought across materials, processes, and surfaces. ‘How Painters Think’, group exhibition by HERmetics_in_the_studio painting collective artists: Sinead Aldridge, Patricia Doherty, Majella Clancy, Mary Theresa Keown, and Louise Wallace at the Outset gallery in Galway from 22nd May-21st June 2026. Each artist works through drawing, collage, printmaking, 3D elements, and found objects before arriving at the painted image, revealing the layered and evolving nature of painterly thinking.
At its core, How Painters Think examines the mechanics of artistic thought through abstraction, materiality, and the tension between structure and spontaneity. The works are process-driven, unfolding through repetition, disruption, memory, and discovery, where intention and accident coexist.
Working primarily in oil and mixed media, the artists employ techniques of layering and excavation, reflecting how ideas are built, erased, and reformed over time. The exhibition embraces experimentation and the use of non-traditional tools, challenging conventional approaches to painting and opening up new possibilities for mark-making and composition.
The installation extends this thinking into the gallery space, drawing directly from the studio environment. Through varied hanging strategies, material references, and the inclusion of sculptural elements, the exhibition invites multiple viewpoints and reflects the shifting perspective of the painter at work.
By disrupting the conventional gallery format, How Painters Think offers an immersive insight into painting as a dynamic and ongoing process – a form of thinking in action that is both intuitive and analytical.
Diving into the Pool, oil on canvas, 50cm X60cm
Pilgrim 2, oil on canvas, 50cm X60cm
Installation view 1. ‘How Painters Think’ at the Outset Gallery 2026
‘How Painters Think’ at the Outset Gallery 2026 showing Louise Wallace’s work in foreground & Sinéad Aldridge’s paintings in background-Installation view 2.