Nobody at the Blue Leaf Gallery on Dublin's Pembroke Street last Tuesday could believe that Cork-based artist Suzy O'Mullane and her muse-model Róisín Davis were mother and daughter, rather than sisters.
Looking equally striking in edgy black gowns, the pair were the centre of attention at the opening of The Weimar Mouth, O'Mullane's fine new exhibition. "I've never seen so many pictures of myself in one place", was Davis's response.
Arresting portraits of her and other women, all looking languid yet passionate, graced the walls of the year-old gallery, and an avalanche of artists arrived to take it in.
Print maker Lorraine Cooke was impressed, as was O'Mullane's former classmate from the Crawford College of Art and Design, Brian Smyth. Other creative folk included Margo Banks and Katherine Boucher-Beug, and the painter and photographer Brian Maguire, who opened the exhibition with a glowing speech about O'Mullane's work, praising its intensity and understanding of human relationships.
Such understanding is particularly keen in the artist's portraits of her daughter, the creation of which, she says, "is a very special time for us both. Otherwise we might not have found time to connect. It's a very personal and intimate process, and I have a lot of respect for Róisín".
Other models were also present; the artist's sister, Deirdre Hurley, and the actor and writer Martha Furey. Would 14-year-old Orla Butler, who had travelled from Athlone for the occasion with her mother Jackie, like to see herself in one of O'Mullane's pieces one day? Maybe, she said, but she didn't seem sure about all those hours of sitting still.