Black Moon Over Lenadoon
I grew up in Glengoland housing estate in the 1970s. Lenadoon estate was next door and was built around Half Moon Lake, a deep and dangerous mill pond which powered a linen mill in the 1800s. The children of Lenadoon estate built boats and swam in Half Moon Lake at a time of social deprivation in West Belfast. The 'Halfie' as it is known locally was a dreaming, magical space and quite wild. It was also the site of dark tragedies. This painting depicts the river which feeds Half Moon Lake and the overgrown srrounds. If you look closely you may spot fruit, surreal and luscious, which add to the hallucinatory feeling of the painting.
Louise Wallace has been a lecturer in painting at Belfast School of Art since 2007. Her work is in the Irish State collection and the UK Government Art collection. In 2024 she won the Jackson's Prize for oil painting.