The Heavenly (In)Visibles | Patsy Atkinson Art Exhibition
The Heavenly (In)Visibles is an art exhibition by Patsy Atkinson, honoring the poetry of Mary Oliver.
Patsy hopes that it will nurture awareness of how empathetic engagement with the natural world and its spiritual energy can lead to more respect for nature, particularly during this time of ecological peril.
She divides her time between Sherkin Island and Cork city. She was a recipient of an Emerging Artist Award in 2024 and was awarded a Future Makers Award from the Design and Craft Council of Ireland (DCCI) in 2025.
The exhibition in Sherkin Island’s community hall is part of Patsy’s MA by Research at MTU Crawford College of Art and Design. Her thesis title is Materialisation of the spirituality of nature in the poetry of Mary Oliver (1935-2019) in contemporary textile art practice. Her research bridges literary analysis, philosophy, spirituality, poetry and textile art making to illuminate the poet’s deep reverence for nature. The exhibition coincides with the launch of a documentary film on the life and work of Mary Oliver. Mary Oliver: Saved by the beauty of the World will be released by American Masters in the USA on 25th August 2026.
Patsy materialises Mary Oliver’s acute observation of the minutiae of the natural world and her gentle call to notice nature with wonder and in a contemplative way. In keeping with Mary Oliver’s creative processes, Patsy uses slow, meditative and nature-based processes, including ecoprinting, paper-making, monoprinting and natural dyeing using plants sustainably foraged from the hedgerows of Sherkin Island.
“As the landscapes of Provincetown were imbued into the poetry of Mary Oliver, my work captures the minutiae of nature and the colours and stillness of this beautiful West Cork island,” Patsy said.
