Gathering - An Exhibition by Trina Hobson

Trina Hobson returns to ArtisAnn Gallery on Wednesday 4 November with Gathering, her first solo show in Belfast in five years. It runs through to Saturday 12 December, so there's plenty of time to catch it if you can't make the opening.

Gathering looks at how the accumulation of our life experiences shapes the way we perceive, interpret and move through the world. It's a theme that sits well with Hobson's own path, which has taken a few turns. She originally studied Design at Ulster University and ran her own interior design business; fifteen years later, she went back for a second degree in Fine Art. That one paid off in a big way: she picked up the Dean's List Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement, the Royal Ulster Academy Award for Outstanding Student, and the John and Rachel Turner Bursary.

Since then, she's exhibited at the Royal Ulster Academy, the Boyle Arts Festival, and the RHA in Dublin. She won the 2018 RUA Conor Prize for a figurative work and has shown internationally, including a solo show at the Irish Arts Centre in New York. There's another layer to her background too: she's a qualified Art Psychotherapist, having completed a Masters in the field in 2023. That intersection of art and therapy likely informs the way Gathering approaches the idea of how we carry our experiences with us.

ArtisAnn Gallery is at 70 Bloomfield Avenue, BT5 5AE. Admission is free, and all the artworks in the show are available to buy. The gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 5.30pm, with a late-night opening on the first day, Wednesday 4 November, from 6pm to 8pm.