New level

After a brief hiatus, Tira Walsh reconnects with the medium of painting through renewed passion and curiosity. New level is a body of work that reflects a fresh energy and an instinctive, expressive approach shaped by time away. Each piece carries a sense of rediscovery – a balance of confidence and exploration. Together, the works mark a vibrant reiteration of her practice, driven by enthusiasm and a deepened reverence for the process. The works speak true to her style. Sleek and industrial landscapes with shocks of brightness here and there which creates contrast and evokes a playfulness. This is storytelling in Tira’s very own visual language.

Mesmerize feels like being pulled into a moment you can’t quite explain. Soft clouds of shadow drift across the surface while sharp blue lines cut through like currents, guiding your eye without letting you rest. The scattered white marks feel like whispers or flickers of thought — small, restless signals in the calm. There is a dreamy tension, like surrendering to something beautiful and slightly unknown.

Emotionless feels like a quiet pause where feelings disappear still but never fully vanish. Shadows drift like thoughts, while the sharp red edges act as boundaries holding everything together.

Contrasts continue, Headlines feels loud and quiet at the same time — like trying to make sense of a world that won’t slow down. The sharp yellow shape cuts through the haze like breaking news, while red hums underneath like a constant pulse. Loose marks and fading shadows feel like fragments of stories, half-heard and quickly replaced. There’s a restless energy here, a mix of urgency, and a confusion that comes from too much at once.

Colour plays a crucial psychological role throughout the works. Deep blue creates a contemplative, almost meditative atmosphere, while fluorescent orange injects energy. Acidic green destabilises the palette. Heavy black spaces hang like night air, and splices of white flicker like stars. Some of the works appear to be almost cosmic-like. Together, the colour choices generate a dynamic balance between calm expansiveness and disruptive intensity. There’s a push and pull between mystery and tenderness, chaos wrapped in softness, love letters written in shadow.

New level presents both reunion and revelation. Tira’s works move between memory and rediscovery, where familiar gestures reappear alongside new experiments in colour, texture, and form. Imperfections in the canvas which are left to shine, speak of pause and persistence; surfaces carry traces of change, doubt, and renewed confidence. Rather than a simple comeback, the paintings unfold as a living conversation between past and present — a practice reshaped by personal lived experience and reflection. Moments of restraint meet bursts of bold expression, revealing an artist relearning the rhythm of mark and movement. This body of work invites viewers into an intimate process of reawakening, celebrating the courage to begin again with the enduring pull of a beautiful and creative instinct. This exhibition invites audiences to witness an artist at a pivotal moment of rediscovery, offering a powerful meditation on resilience, growth, and the evolving nature of artistic practice.