How do societies move within the contemporary globalised world, and what do we share with strangers we see every day? Daily urban moments are translated into paint in my work. The elements that cause attraction/ distraction – colours, lights, design elements, text, advertisements – these are all gathered into gestural strokes with the individual remaining as the focus of my attention.
In A-Way, painting is reconsidered entirely within my work by introducing discarded material – cardboard, plastics, and other objects we touch a thousand times – as an equal protagonist. This leads to an emergence of blended visual elements which offer a “grounded” journey that follows contemporary consumer habits, societal trends, and the never-ending cycle of production and consumption globally.
Two- and three-dimensional paintings are used to convey everyday urban experiences, where modern societies unfold, and where consuming and discarding have become contemporary human automatisms.
Fast food, ink, gouaches and wax pastels on cardboard, 41.7 x 30cm
Wine bar, ink, gouaches and wax pastels on cardboard, 29.4 x 21cm
Happy Hour, gouaches and mixed media on canvas, 70 x 40cm
Eddie Rockets, gouaches and wax pastels on shopping bags (one side); mixed media collage (other side), 82 x 39cm
Kokoro, gouaches, fabrics and mixed media on stretchers, 80 x 110cm
Hogans, gouaches and mixed media on canvas, 60 x 50cm
Restaurant window, black gesso, gouaches and mixed media on Dunnes' shopping bag, 89 x 42cm
Irish café, gouaches and text collage on canvas, 60 x 80cm
St. Paddy’s Eve, gouaches, wax pastels and mixed media on canvas, 80 x 60cm