We’re thrilled to announce the final video of In STUDIO, featuring artist Claire Prouvost, launching Friday, 29th November 2024.
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Claire Prouvost, a vibrant force in contemporary art, is reimagining the complexities of human relationships through her bold, cubist-inspired creations. With a studio infused with color and energy, Prouvost’s work explores the multiplicity of facets that compose all of us. Creating collaged characters made of abstract shapes, she brings her intuitive lines and expressive shapes to life, telling visual stories that celebrate diversity, the female form and the beauty of life.
Mark your calendar for a deep dive into Prouvost’s world on Friday, 29th November, where digital illustrations, acrylic paintings, and striking murals coexist in a symphony of vivid hues. It’s here, amidst the playful chaos of her workspace, that she deconstructs the human form, creating art that is as layered and multifaceted as the stories it represents.
This installment of In STUDIO is the final video of its series, offering an intimate glimpse into the practice of one of Ireland’s most dynamic artists. Don’t miss this opportunity to explore Prouvost’s vibrant, emotional universe, where everyday life and extraordinary artistry collide.
To contact or learn more about Claire Prouvost’s work follow her on social media:
We’re thrilled to announce the 2nd video of In STUDIO, featuring artist Damien Flood, launching Friday, 15th November 2024.
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Damien Flood, a distinctive voice in Ireland’s contemporary art world, is creating visual narratives our challenge our perceptions of reality and language – all while having the pulsating sounds of heavy metal music echo through his studio.
Keep an eye out on Friday, 15th Novemberto step into Flood’s chaotic, yet captivating studio tucked away in Co. Wicklow. Discover his alcove brimming with intriguing ceramic figures, tactile mounds of color and paint splattered across his studio. This is where Flood transforms raw pigments into explorations of reality and perception – his personal alchemical chamber where his mesmerizing artworks are born.
The In STUDIO feature with Flood, is the second out of three installments. The mini art documentary series offer an intimate look into the studio and creative process of today’s most innovative artists in Ireland.
To contact or learn more about Damien Flood work follow her on social media:
In STUDIO Debuts with Shane Berkery |Watch Trailer
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We’re thrilled to announce the premiere of In STUDIO, featuring Irish-Japanese artist Shane Berkery, launching Friday, 25th October 2024.
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Shane Keisuke Berkery, an emerging force in Ireland’s contemporary art world. He is redefining cultural narratives through his vivid and thought-provoking paintings that blends his Irish-Japanese heritage which forms the cornerstone of his artistic expression.
Keep an eye out on Friday, 25th Octoberto delve into Bekery’s studio and discover the birthplace of his captivating artworks.
The In STUDIO feature with Berkery, is the first out of three installments. The mini art documentary series offer an intimate look into the studio and creative process of today’s most innovative artists in Ireland.
To contact or learn more about Shane Berkery’s work follow her on social media:
Interview with Fiona Si Hui: “Understanding identity is intimate and can be self-revealing over time. I struggled or still struggle to speak about myself and with painting it’s a form of discourse.”
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Fiona Si Hui, a Dublin-based artist, beautifully captures emotional states and memories in her figurative oil paintings. She talks of her artistic journey after shifting from 3D Games Art to Fine Art, and offers a glimpse into her upcoming project on cross-cultural exchange between Chinese cuisine and Irish heritage.
Tell us about yourself! My name is Fiona, and I was born here in Dublin. My artist name ‘Fiona Si Hui’ is made up of my first name and Chinese first name combined.
How did you begin as an artist? I was always interested in art in general and the different forms they come in like, manga, animation, and video games. But my obsession with oil painting started out when I picked up a second-hand copy of Joseph Sheppard’s book ‘How to Paint like the Old Masters’ from Chapters. This book was like a step-by-step cookbook with images explaining techniques and medium recipes. I was fascinated how old masterpieces were created and it was like learning alchemy. So, I spent a phase in my late teens learning and painting for fun. After I got back into painting in my 20’s, I applied to shows and shared my work online and continued from there.
You transitioned from 3D Game Art to Fine Arts. What prompted your shift? I originally planned on working in the games industry doing concept art. I loved the idea of worldbuilding and creating visuals for these ideas and worlds. After graduating, I was burnt out and at a lost as to what to do in life. I realised I wasn’t interested in what the games industry had to offer anymore, it felt restrictive. After moving back to Dublin, I had my old art supplies around that I never threw away. I decided to have a go back at it and it was liberating. It returned the sense of motivation for improvement and the sense of identity. Of course, the paintings I made at that point were awful, but I kept at it!
The Radish Uncle by Fiona Si Hui
Can you tell us about your art? I am a figurative painter that works with oils. I explore on the emotive states that presents themselves during memories, or how we perceive them with various lenses like nostalgia in an introspective manner. Through that I touch down on other themes that intersect, to whatever feels relevant to me at the time. What has influenced your artistic direction? It’s difficult to pinpoint what my influences are; its more of an amalgamation of things I loved growing up. Like anime, manga, games, mythology…I’m in constant awe of the results of human creativity. With music, it can be a singular sentence from a song that creates a visual bite in my head.
What challenges or breakthroughs in your artistic journey inspired the themes of your works? I do think my work can be auto-biographical, as I often put my own perceptions onto them. Understanding identity is intimate and can be self-revealing over time. I struggled or still struggle to speak about myself and with painting it’s a form of discourse. When people look for advice for people on how to speak to others, the advice is usually ‘ask about the other person, because people love to talk about themselves’. I applied the same advice to my practice, and it helps me in engage with others through that.
How do you effectively capture these elements of multi-dimensional human emotions in your artwork? A piece I will use as an example is called ‘Mother’s Closet’. It’s a piece I created after the loss of my father. I wanted to encapsulate all the emotions I felt, from heartache, acceptance, adaptation, exhaustion under the umbrella of grief. I depicted the model looking at the viewer as candid as possible, but I also presented the vulnerable side layered together. I try to have elements that viewers can create an understanding of, though their interpretations can differ to my own intent.
Mothers Closet by Fiona Si Hui
What message or theme do you hope people take away from seeing your work? If it felt relatable to somebody, that’s enough for me. People in general seek connection even if it’s with a stranger. If I can manage that, I’m satisfied.
Any advice for aspiring artists looking to explore similar themes or painting techniques? Paint what you want. Understanding your medium of choice helps in achieving your results so don’t forget about the technical side of painting. Doing so can help you solidify your technique and process. The foundation of my work starts from photographic references I take which I digitally edit to hammer down an atmosphere I’m chasing to capture. I then paint my interpretation of the reference and play around with it, choosing what to represent or abstract. Focusing on parts I think are interesting. I anchor a specific colour palette in mind for each piece. I would pick a dominant colour and be selective on the undertones of the relating colours. I have a tendency for cool tone shades, and for a while people would associate my work for its heavy blue tones.
Any future shows or projects we should keep an eye out for? Now, I am working on a project that’s about the cultural exchange between Chinese food and Irish culture and heritage. Through the lens of my family’s takeaway, I aim to show an intimate behind the scenes of the people that make a 3 in one on a typical Friday evening. It’s a project that’s pretty special and close to home.
To contact or learn more about Fiona Si Hui’s work follow her on social media:
Interview with Salvatore of Lucan: “My day to day life is also a mix between realism and imagination. I depict it in my art the same way I experience them in real life.”
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Salvatore of Lucan is a Dublin-based, half-Irish and half-Bangladeshi painter. He talks to us about the connection between his work and real-life experiences, what motivates him to continue his art practice and the meaning of his name.
Tell us about yourself! What would you like to know?
Can you tell us about your art? I make paintings. Mainly scenes where some sort of situation is happening.
What inspired you to become an artist, and how did you start your career? I really loved painting and I wasn’t very academic so it was an easy choice to go to art college. I started my career by going on the dole and renting a studio that I rarely left. After about one or two years, I started getting into some group shows. Eventually I was given a show in Pallas Projects as part of their program there.
How do you stay inspired and motivated in your artistic practice? Fear of failure is one motivator. Also, love, loving things and being sentimental. Maybe also being a bit competitive. I just always want to push myself to make the best paintings I can. It’s a nice feeling when it happens that you are proud of something.
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Could you tell us more about how you developed into the unique artistic style that we see today? I suppose it’s a combination of knowing what aspects of your painting you don’t like. So trying to not do those things, knowing what you like and what you are affected by, then trying to take elements of that.
Can you tell us more about your artistic process when creating your artworks? It’s all about the composition for me. I can spend weeks just on graph paper before I start a large-scale work. My painting process changes around a lot but with large works, drawing and redrawing to scale before committing to canvas is the closest thing to a constant process.
Your artwork often features scenes from your own life. What draws you to these subjects? Well, it’s my life, I live it. The artworks I create is unique to me, but I know a lot of the stuff that happens to us individually can also be a shared experience with others. I’ve been told I don’t represent myself accurately, I used to think I did, but most people don’t see it. I honestly don’t know. My day to day life is also a mix between realism and imagination. So, I depict it the same way I experience them in real life.
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Why did you decide to rename yourself as Salvatore of Lucan, and what does this new name mean to you? People often asking where I’m from basically. My Ma’s Irish and my Dad’s Bangladeshi and because I didn’t know my Dad growing up. It’s kind of annoying. And also, I’m not Italian at all, I just have an Italian name. I used to have to tell my whole life story when people asked me where I was from. Also, I love Lucan. And I’m from there.
Lastly, what future projects or goals are you excited about in your artistic journey? I have a new show called Fancy Situations opening in Kevin Kavanagh on June 6thand after that the next show which I’ve already started is all about my dad.
To contact or learn more about Salvatore of Lucan’s work, follow him on social media:
Interview with Leah Hewson: “What is important in my work is the reminder that freedom of expression can exist into adulthood and that the pursuit and space for individuality is imperative.”
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Leah Hewson is an Irish contemporary abstract artist based in Dublin. Hewson talks to us about the key themes of her work, what she is proud of in her artistic career and how she accesses her unconscious mind to show herself more into her paintings.
Tell us about yourself!
I’m an abstract painter and creator originally from Wicklow. I graduated from the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) in 2010 and have been pursuing a career as an artist ever since. Over the years I’ve had multiple jobs in hospitality and the film industry to support my practice but have been working as a full-time artist since 2018, making Dublin my base to work from.
Can you tell us about your art?
The roots of what I do all come from painting. For the first five years I was working with the figure and creating surrealist art using mixed media and collage before moving into Abstraction. In more recent years I’ve had the opportunities to collaborate and bring my practice into different mediums, having opportunities also to travel with this work. My painting has been translated into murals, installations, sculpture and print and I’ve also experimented with animation and video.
What are the key themes that appear in your art?
In a nutshell, my work is about escapism and excavation equally. In one sense, I am trying to exist in expression and creativity in its purest form. On the other, I have a real interest in psychology, neurology and human behaviour. I’ve always had an interest in this area, and more recently I have become familiar with aspects of neurology and cognition in the visual brain.
A huge aspect of my work is not only not being afraid of the white canvas or making mistakes but being defiant against them. The root of this fear is the fear of what people will think. This, in my opinion, is what stifles true creativity. I think my necessity for creating comes from a feeling like I couldn’t express myself verbally from a young age, or at least was afraid of being misunderstood. I needed to find my own language and way of communicating with the world on my own terms. Within my painting practice I try to access my unconscious brain. As 95% of activity occurs in this space, this is where we exist in our true essence, without social pressure and conformity. I’m doing my best to show myself who I really am through my painting.
Schmaltzy_110 x 160cm_Lacquer on Aluminium_2023
How do you get into a creative mindset before starting a new artwork?
The cycle to the studio journey gets me into the right headspace and also keeps my home a space for rest. I have a pretty rigid structure to my day as I work 9:00 to 5:00 Monday to Friday which allows space to breathe into work and out of it. The rhythm of this is necessary as it can be intense and very stimulating. I generally work on at least two or three paintings at a time, sometimes up to five or six!
Before I start a new series, I like to clear away any remnants of previous work, like clearing old energy to make way for new, and to hang the canvases on the wall to have their own space. It’s really exciting to step back at this point and anticipate the potential of what’s about to happen. At this point, I will ground myself in the defiance against all the white space and go in determined not to be afraid of it or afraid to make ‘mistakes’. Having a new mix to listen to can give me a lot of fresh energy and put me into the right headspace to work also!
“Dancing and moving my body has a great impact on the energy to which I bring to the studio. Even though my studio practice is 9 to 5, my senses are always in tune to absorb potential inspiration.”
Can you tell us your artistic influences?
I get influence from a lot of sources outside of the artistic realm. It’s only in the last number of years I’ve realised that I’m not a big consumer of visual art but find influence in other places of expression. I could not make what I make without music. I listen to a lot of repetitive electronic and techno music while I’m creating as it puts me into a primal flow state and keeps me there for a long time, until my body cant keep up.
The order and repetition in architecture, patterns in textiles, color combinations in clothing are all influences. Dancing and moving my body has a great impact on the energy to which I bring to the studio. Even though my studio practice is 9 to 5, my senses are always in tune to absorb potential inspiration.
I can name many artists whose work I love but have nothing to do with what I do – Richard Serra, Christo, Marina Abramovic, Ai Wei Wei to name a few. The influence they have is the gravity of their presence on the audience. I think this is what brought me to my mantra ‘persistence is the key’ which helps me to push through my oscillating doubt.
I also like reading and listening to podcasts that are about brain activity. Anything from the evolved function and squishy tissue to alternate states of mind in psychedelics to breakthroughs in modern therapies and disorders.
What artwork are you especially proud of? Why?
I recently created a design for a thirty-six-foot glass corridor over in LA. I haven’t posted about it yet as I’m waiting for the rest of the building to be finished. It’s the biggest project to date in terms of scale, budget, challenges and working with the medium of glass for the first time. Working through the imposter syndrome and giving up control along the way was challenging. Although, it was an incredible experience to work with so many talented people in their field, to all work together to bring this concept to fruition. It was a long way from just me and my canvas in the studio and I learned a lot during this time both about exterior processes and about myself.
Installation shot Kin Connection_Art on Paper, New York_2022
What are the key takeaways you’d like your audience to see in your works?
I’ve made a conscious decision to work in this field, so my main goal is always to check that I’m enjoying myself in it. For me, what’s the point otherwise? So naturally there is a sense of joy in the work that comes through. I guess this is the obvious take away. I want people to feel uplifted and energised by it, to have a brief or long lasting moment of escapism from life. I would by no means classify myself as a good painter but what is important in my work is the reminder that freedom of expression can exist into adulthood and that the pursuit and space for individuality is imperative.
Looking ahead, do you have any specific artistic projects or collaborations in mind that you’d like to pursue in the future? Thank you!
I would love to turn ‘Kin Connection’ into a permanent public sculpture. I enjoy the challenges of going large in scale, and the outcomes of scale and how things exist in spaces is an interesting thing to comprehend.
To contact or learn more about Leah Hewson’s work, follow her on social media and check his website:
Interview with Vanessa Jones: “I think that meaning comes from the seeking of a true likeness, which is an idea I like to contemplate in my own work.”
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Vanessa Jones, originally from Tennessee and now a Dublin-based artist, is known for her vibrant, surreal-like self portraits. She talks to us about her figurative work the treatment of the female figure in the art world, and her future projects.
Tell us about yourself! I am a mom and artist living in Dublin since 2006. I moved here from New York City and am from Nashville, Tennessee. I worked at the Frick Collection in New York before moving to Ireland where I worked at IMMA here in Dublin on and off from 2009 to 2017 in various roles. In 2017, I took a career break to go back to school and get my MFA at NCAD and am now a part time lecturer in the painting department there.
Can you tell us about your art? I am mainly a figurative painter using self-portraiture exploring the history of painting, heritage and the feminine embodied in paint. I like to play with symbols and iconic figures in my paintings, hopefully, giving the viewer moments of familiarity that are built into the history of painting.
Can you tell us a bit more about your self-portraits? Like many female painters, the self-portrait comes from convenience – a figure to paint – but it means more than that. I think that meaning comes from the seeking of a “true” likeness, which is an idea I like to contemplate in my own work. The repetitive pursuit of painting the same image over and over again does something to the paintings as well. It makes my likeness more universal, I guess, and less individual. I also find the treatment of the female figure, or the feminine in the figure (take for example the Kritios boy), in the history of art fascinating as a reflection of culture. I like to equate it with the S-curve or the serpentine line.
You have an interesting “dream-like” style to your work. Can I ask what your influences are as an artist? Thank you for calling it “dream-like.” In my current exhibition, I try to play with this using literature and the way many female 19th century writers, particularly the Brontës, would address the reader to let them know that this is fiction but true. The paintings express what cannot be in reality but are also representational. Sort of a hyper-reality, I guess, but not realism. I think this is why I love French medieval art and the early renaissance work of Botticelli.
I also realised in the Hortus Conclusus exhibition that the device I used for reference images created a kind of unnatural light and colour. I went the Hallyu! Exhibition at the V&A, and it did a great job of playing with the way colour is represented in Korean culture in the past and now, being that they are the leaders in digital technology. Their pinks, reds and greens are so graphic and made for a digital device. Unknowingly at first, I tried to bring this digital colour to my work. I think that it plays with the “familiar” in the same way that I use art historical references in my paintings. We all know that type of light and colour saturation that comes from a digital world.
Can you tell us about your experience as an artist from the states and Ireland? I have been here since 2006, since I was 25, so I feel like I have grown up as an artist and an adult in Dublin. What I knew of the art world in The USA was really from New York Museums and Galleries working at the Frick Collection, which I’d say wasn’t really reflective of the art scene for most artists. That academic and blue chip idea of art always sort of made the art scene feel impenetrable. In Dublin, the art scene has always felt accessible by comparison with wide reaching connections globally. I started at IMMA when Enrique Juncosa was the Director and continued under Sarah Glennie, both of whom gave Dublin access to cutting edge and international artists. Not only that, they seemed to place Irish artists within that international context. I learned a lot just through observation. IMMA also had the knack for having small blockbuster exhibitions a year or two before the larger London or New York versions. I got to see Hilma af Klint in As Above So Below when her work was barely on the radar of international audiences.
We also know that you’ve been a recipient of many art and residency awards, most recently the RDS Mason Hayes & Curran LLP Centre Culturel Irlandais Residency Award 2021 in Paris! What was that like? That was wonderful. The light in Paris, in France, is something else, hence all the Impressionists, but it was hard being away for three months with a six-year-old back in Ireland. We coordinated going back and forth between Dublin and Paris, and I sent her off to my parents in the States in July with her Dad. She ended up spending much of August with me in France. I think, for my daughter, it was the best summer ever. It felt very ascetic at first having so much time to myself. It was a dream visiting the Musee Cluny and other museums without a schedule as well as the Apocalypse Tapestries and travelling around the Loire valley through rose farms all while having a studio at the Centre Culturel Irlandais. I think that I came back with a greater understanding of Medieval art from France. I found that all of the symbols and iconography in French Medieval art came directly from the land that it was made. It seems obvious, but, well, the realisation felt profound. I remember my French friend suggesting we visit the Dungeon at the Chateau Vincennes on the hottest day in Paris, because it would be cool there…and it was. I hardly knew we had a heatwave that day, and it suddenly made sense of the medieval building.
What t has been the most rewarding art experience you’ve had so far? I just had my first solo exhibition, Hortus Conclusus, open at the RHA Ashford Gallery on the 30th of March. It was the first time I thoughtfully had to work towards a single body of work and towards a comprehensive realisation in a really dedicated way. It was a process that felt slow and long until it wasn’t. Suddenly two months out, I worried I’d have nothing finished! Around January, my original idea of the Hortus Conclusus was transformed around cabbages and snails when I discovered a Korean Folk Tale that seemed to bind all my ideas together. Bar one painting that I did in Paris, I started all of my paintings over for the exhibition in January. It made time very tight but definitely more rewarding.
Any future projects you want us to keep an eye on? I’ve had a collaboration on the backburner with the friend from the Dungeon, French tapestry artist Bettina Saroyan, around the Unicorn Tapestries. We did a bit of research together when I was in France over the summer. That realisation has yet to happen, but it is one I think about often and communicate with Bettina about a lot. It’s like meditating on medieval thought when contemplating the unicorn. It also brings up a lot of contemporary ideas around the digital world and, again, that idea of unnatural light.
To contact or learn more about Vanessa Jone’s work, follow her on social media and check his website:
Interview with Peter Smyth: “I suppose I feel I’m making something of utter complexity or abstract thoughts we have about what goes on beneath us, underground and all around us.”
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Peter Smyth is an Irish artist based in Kildare. Smyth’s work is heavily influenced by ecological thought. He explores the dichotomy of painting and digital art, creating pieces that utilise both mediums. He talks to us about his work, his greatest influences in art and his future projects.
Tell us about yourself!
Hi, my name is Peter Smyth. I’m an artist living and working in North Kildare. I’ve been a self-employed artist for the last 2 years at this point, having built a home studio out the back of my family home back at the beginning of 2021, this is now my full-time haunt.
Can you tell us about your art?
Currently and for the past year and a half, my work has been influenced by ecological thought, the philosophy entangled with it and certain ecosystems within that such as fungal networks and the organisms they interact with. That combined with the overarching dichotomy of the ontology of painting and that of digital art. By that, I mean calling into question by means of implementation, the properties of both and their relations to one another.
My work and my process utilises both mediums in its conception. I view my paintings as a collaborator and competitor to digital art, it almost must be as why else would I paint the canvases if could print to them to the same effect, I say to myself. The weight, the texture, relief, the traces of human experiences achieved in paint, they cannot be replicated by any AI even, or maybe I’ll eat those words.
What about your artistic style?
In terms of the actual aesthetic, stylistic representation of my work. It’s formulated by drawing shapes acquired from deconstructing imagery of plant life, such as petals, leaves, stems to mappings of fungal networks.
I create usually rudimentary looking 3d extrusions of them, sometimes rigid and sharp, sometimes curved, I suppose maybe because I’m thinking of them broken down or zoomed into on a micro level. To then assemble those in a piece of software that renders lighting and different textures/materials is interesting, they’re recognisable shapes, but the colours chosen are arbitrary, like the process of constructing the compositions altogether. I’m left with something I could never have envisioned from the start, the depth achieved then within the painting is something that engages our sense of contextual space, or at least that’s what I hope it achieves. I suppose I feel I’m making something of utter complexity or abstract thoughts we have about what goes on beneath us, underground and all around us.
I noticed you implement digital processes into your art practice. Can you tell me more about this creative process?
The digital process is essential to my work. The paintings never come into existence without it and I recognise that. I can of course choose my inspiration, my point of departure in which the subject is chosen, the shapes are drawn and translated then into 3D models.
The good stuff begins to happen when you change the lighting, the colours, the reflective properties of the objects in the software. You’re taking these shapes and manipulating them to a point where they interact in just the right way, of course that’s subjective to me as I ultimately settle on the picture I will translate to a painting. The brilliance of it is that the most incongruous colours that don’t necessarily have this great colour relationship in theory seem to work together out of nowhere. Suddenly you can crop into this and see a wonderful idea for a painting.
What are your greatest influences as an artist?
The world around us in general, the systems present, the forces at work, the sheer scope of it all. I’m always baffled, like many of us, about the infinitude of things which surround and affect us in so many aspects; the individual leaves on each bush, the tree outside my window, to the quantum level of what passes through our bodies every moment we exist. I feel as though I must express that in some form, like some sort of votive offering to the world. Some do that through nurturing more growth in terms of gardening for instance. I like to think I’m doing a bit of gardening myself with my paintings, my arrangements. I coined a term for my paintings, some are titled as such, calling them ‘Arborisms’ after what you call an arborist or tree surgeon.
As a young, emerging artist, can you tell me what it’s like to work in Ireland?
The artistic community in a Dublin, theres a lot of positive things for such a small country. Maybe it’s the artist friends I’ve made and the other connections that make it all feel very tight knit, or a smaller world to me. Whether that’s necessarily a good thing I’m not sure. Theres certainly a hunger for art in Dublin and that’s great, however I’ll report back in the future on how far Dublin alone may get you as an artist. Whilst you can get great opportunities here, it’s a matter of how many and for whom, due to the scale of the creative industries/ gallery scene here.
Has there been anyone who inspired you to continue your art?
Other than the unwavering support of my parents since I was young, theres one person who’s been a massive proponent in my career so far, that would be the artist Al Maser.
When covid hit I left my retail job on the back end of finishing my postgrad and I had the time to focus on painting. Maser bought two of my early works and invited me into his studio to have a chat. He expressed his belief in me and that gave me more encouragement to go all in. He offered me a solo show in 2021 and it opened in March 2022. It provided me a platform to showcase my work and to be seen by new audiences. To have had my first show in Atelier Now at such a pivotal time, I will be forever grateful. To be told you have what it takes from somebody who has had already such a successful art career and then to be backed by him in that instance was incredible. Not only that being a success for me, it introduced me to other artists who have a similar mentor relationship with Al, whom I have become great friends with.
To see artists like Sean Atmos, who is a fantastic artist and friend, do so well from a similar position but with a different artistic background, it inspires me to keep going. When you see colleagues around you thrive you are reminded in your own practice that you can achieve things with hard work and consistency, and with a good group of artists in your circle or environment.
What is the best piece of advice given to you?
Patience being a virtue, or not to cut corners, or don’t rush anything. Whatever way you like to take that, it remains very important to me, though simple and cliché in essence. My father is a massive perfectionist when it comes to fabricating anything, tackling any project and that has rubbed off on me, though it only took most of my life. There’s an inherent urge at times I feel to push out work to keep up with everything that goes on in our online lives, that’s a massive issue in this ‘content’ generation, it’s a fine line to balance when you’re trying to make progress and be seen.
What is something you’ve always wanted to do in your art career?
Currently, I have my eyes on a show internationally. Whether that’s a group show or a solo show I’ll take that one step at a time. There might be something on the way but its to early to know for sure just yet.
I would like to do something in relation art and science being exhibited side by side, think mycology expert, some data visualisation, and paintings responding to that in the same space, but how that might be made manifest yet I’m not sure.
Any future projects we should keep an eye out for?
I have a piece being auctioned off for Scoop Outside the Box, to support the Scoop Foundation Charity in the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA Gallery) on the 28th of March 2023. Beyond that I cant say too much as there are two things which aren’t set in stone just yet but keep your eyes peeled for something in Dublin in April/ May and something bigger towards the end of the year!
To contact or learn more about Peter Smyth’s work, follow him on social media and check his website:
Interview with Eleanor McCaughey: “The work grows with me, it evolves as I navigate the world around me with its ups and downs.”
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Eleanor McCaughey, an Irish artist based in Dublin. McCaughey’s work is abstract, incorporating media and creating large-scale installations. She talks to us about her work, the importance of art in her life and her future projects.
Tell us about yourself!
My name is Eleanor, I am an Irish artist living and working in Dublin. I have a multidisciplinary practice with a background in animation and graphic design. Currently, I have a studio in the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) after receiving the Fingal County Council Studio award.
Can you tell us about your art?
My art practice is a really important part of my life, it has become cathartic and It grounds me mentally. My studio practice has gotten me through a couple of tough patches in my life, it’s definitely therapeutic for me. Recently I have been researching and developing a new visual language that deals with themes of belonging, displacement, and loss of faith, looking at theological and cosmic notions through a multifarious practice that includes installation, painting, sculpture, and video.
You started in animation! How did you pivot from that into contemporary art?
I always enjoyed film, this idea of an immersive world that you can escape to. When I made the decision to study animation and design I was just out of school and I was thinking I could combine this idea of an immersive world with drawing and painting. I didn’t really know what fine art was at the time or how one could make it a part of your life or career. Years later I signed up for figure painting evening course run by an artist, Donal Murray. The evening course introduced me to oil painting techniques. I was absolutely addicted. I enjoyed the tactile nature of painting in comparison to painting and drawing on the computer with a Wacom tablet. I loved exploring the possibilities of the medium and embracing the mistakes and mess. There is no right, no wrong, only experimentation, I enjoyed the freedom of this.
Can you tell us about your creative process?
I read somewhere, that at the end of the day in the studio, always leave a task unfinished so you have something to work on straight away when you return the next day. When I get into the studio I close the door behind me and I get a release of energy. I dive headfirst into making in a flurry and I will do this for about 3 hours, after which I have to take a tea break. Tea, chocolate and peanuts are a studio staple. There is an important focus on materials in my work so I will sculpt or paint with whatever I can get my hands on. Usually, the materials that I have lying around in the studio determine the work. The size of the studio space also influences qualities of the work and it’s output, for example, the scale of the work or the material quality of the work.
Have you in my wilderness
Could you tell us more about how you developed into the unique artistic style that we see today?
The change from painting into abstraction, media and installation work happened about 3 years ago. I underwent a couple of surgeries for a condition called endometriosis. I was in the recovery stage at this point and so I was thankful for the rest. I was in my second year of the turps banana course where they pair you up with a mentor for the year. I had a very influential art mentor who inspired me to question the work I was making at the time. He turned me on to artist, Mike Kelly. I started watching interviews with Kelly and I came across this one interview where he talked about the idea of ‘unlearning’. He talks about where he found his old drawings of when he was young. This inspired me to dig out some childhood drawings, I found one drawing which was a wax resist drawing of a rainbow, grassy hill and a blue sky.
The quality of the work was free, uninhibited and beautifully expressive, I decided to go back to the drawing board and rethink my usual techniques and reintroduce old ones. At this point, the concepts around the work were pulling the work in new directions. I started playing around with new building techniques for my sculptures, using everyday found materials and plaster. I was thinking about my body and what it was physically capable of making now that I was healing. I started concentrating more on making installation as I was enjoying the physicality of making large-scale work. With this new work I had to push my body to stretch and pull while mark making, painting and sculpting. I wanted to make works that were bigger than me.
Your work is so vibrant! Could you explain these different elements and what inspired them?
I have always embraced colour in my work. My formative years were the 80s and 90s so I was always into bright graphics, filters and patterns, I was influenced by gig posters and album covers. I enjoy colour theory and experimenting with it, I also use it as a tool to create a feeling in a painting. My paintings are becoming more experimental and intuitive with an influence by the history of iconographers in my family. My painting is steadily evolving through new materials (wax, gouache and oil sticks) and adopting decorative and uncanny qualities that animate when drenched in light.
What artwork are you especially proud of?
I am usually most proud of my most recent works because the works are always evolving. Each exhibition is built on ideas from the last exhibition, I try to push these ideas and think about the work differently for each show. The work grows with me, it evolves as I navigate the world around me with its ups and downs. If I am lucky enough to have the freedom to make site-specific work for a given gallery this also affects the direction of the work. I am always exhilarated by the idea of creating an immersive space. I suppose I could be chasing that feeling of when I was a child crawling behind the Christmas tree with all of its coloured lights on or building a hut out of the couch cushions. I am proud of the work I made for learning to smell the smoke installation that was part of the “Bones in the attic” exhibition curated by Victoria Evans at the Hugh Lane. This work was made in Temple Bar Gallery and Studio’s and it was a lot bigger than me and very physical to make.
What are the key takeaways you’d like your audience to see in your works?
Art is subjective, and everyone comes to a work with their own experiences, viewing the world through a different lens than mine. There isn’t a specific message I am trying to convey in my work, I suppose it is more of a feeling I am trying to capture. As a child and a young adult I had a strong belief in something bigger than myself. I used to visit churches and went to mass and I enjoyed the spiritual feeling that was outside of myself. The idea of the other, the unexplainable, I found comfort in the magic of it all. I miss the sounds, the smells and the sanctuary of a church. I hope my work has an inviting quality like a sanctuary of sorts that takes your mind off of yourself for even a minute. The colour, textures, the way the viewer activates the glitter in the work is all intentional.
Any future projects we should keep an eye out for?
I will be in a group exhibition at the Luan Gallery curated by Aoife Banks in April 2023. I will also have work included in a group exhibition at The Courthouse Gallery curated by Simon Fennessy Corcoran in August 2023. In 2024 I will have a solo exhibition coming up in The Ashford Gallery RHA.
Image of a video still work
To contact or learn more about Eleanor McCaughey’s work, follow her on social media and check his website:
Interview with Jialin Long: “For me, all my works relate to my own experiences, maybe it didn’t turn the camera on me, but there is a part of my story in every single of my work”
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Jialin Long, Beijing-born and now Ireland-based photographer, has seen much success after graduating from IADT in 2020. We talk to Long about her work, greatest influences and her future projects.
Photo Credit: Raisha Dong
Tell us about yourself!
I was born in Beijing, China, and came to Ireland to do a master’s degree in Electronic engineering. I turned my career into photography when my first child was born. Now I’m living with my husband and our three children.
You studied and worked as an engineer! Can you tell us more about that and how you got into photography?
Firstly, as an Asian woman who worked in a male-dominated field, I felt resistance to growing my potential in this profession in engineering when working with many white men, so I decided to pursue something that I’ve always wanted to do.
Secondly, until then, I walked on this path that my mother “designed” which will give me a “good life”, and that includes studying engineering. In the 7th year of working in engineering, every morning after I woke up I looked into the mirror and saw that I’m doing the same thing in the next 10 years, I couldn’t bear it.
I’ve been interested in photography since childhood. I started learning with a passion for making beautiful images but soon I found photography as an art form and hooked in on what it is capable to do in contemporary visual practice.
Can you tell us about your art?
I describe my practice as focusing on issues in contemporary culture, and it uses new presentation strategies to explore social and political issues in an attempt to formulate alternative statements and positions.
Who or what are your greatest influences as an artist?
When I studied photography, I came across Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin talking about the story behind their work “The Day Nobody Died“. This work stayed in my mind for months and months. From there I see how much the meaning can go beyond the images.
Other influences includes Louise Lawler and Sherrie Levine, to young photographers like Simon Lehner, these artists inspired me of what photography is capable of. Seeing these artists use photography in a non-traditional approach, was like shaking my mind “oh, you can do it this way.”
Has any of your personal experiences influenced your work too? If yes, please tell us more!
That’s for sure. I’d like to use a sentence said by another artist, “We are not vampires, we are artists.” He meant artists are not taking everything from everyone else, but we are also giving ourselves. For me, all my works relate to my own experiences, maybe it didn’t turn the camera on me, but there is a part of my story in every single of my work.
Red Illuminates, 2020.
Can you tell me about your creative process?
It’s research, testing, research, testing… meeting friends, talking about progress, and starting again. When working on a new project, I always find it hard, because I don’t know which way I should go, so I try a lot of things, and hopefully, I will figure out a way from it.
I heard these words from Paul Graham, and I use them as my mantra when facing difficulties: “My work, every time I start something new, it is junk. Just keep going. And in the case of photography – sooner or later the world will whisper in your ear and say, let me show you something far more interesting than your little idea. You just have to keep going and keep at it. Make mistakes, make errors, and then the good work arrives. It will arrive.”
Your projects “Red Illuminates” and “The Leftover Women” both respond to China’s social and political policies, how much do these concepts influence your work?
These two works were made at nearly the same time. They both related to my experience at the time that when I visited my parents in Beijing in 2019, I felt it was hard to reach resources for visual and content research when I was in China. Instead, the political guidance was influencing what you can see and what you can hear. So when I returned to Ireland, I reflected on that experience in these two works but mostly in Red Illuminates.
How have you used your photography to reflect on Irish society and culture?
I’m still a recent graduate from college not long ago. The most relevant project since graduation for Irish society is the diversity commission for Dublin City Council Arts Office in 2020 – 2021. In this commission, I tried to challenge the stereotyping of the Chinese community by actively collaborating with the people I photographed and trying to build a deep and more expressive series of portraits of this diverse but under-represented ethnic community in Dublin.
I think photography is the ideal medium to engage other people. With the current technology, everyone can be a photographer. There are two parts involved, one is to click the shutter, and the other one is the subject. Talking about art making, with photography, when you give control to other people, that person starts to tell everyone what he/she sees.
“In this fast paced, economic-driven world, art is the food for our souls. If my work can be seen and understood by normal people, that’ll make my hard work worth it.”
What is the ultimate goal of your work?
I hope people see it, talk about it and maybe it can inspire people to rethink the current issues we have. In this fast paced, economic-driven world, art is the food for our souls. If my work can be seen and understood by normal people, that’ll make my hard work worth it.
Some of your work is included in the Making Art: Photography exhibition at Draíocht until January 2023, can you tell us about the works included in the exhibition?
The work exhibited in this exhibition is along with a selection from the National Photography Collection with Photo Museum Ireland. My work is a portrait of a Nurse Manager in Dublin, this image is part of the diversity commission I was a part of in 2020-2021. 5 artists were commissioned to make work for the diversity program and together the project is for reflecting the dramatically changed social and cultural landscape of Ireland’s capital city. I believe the diversity commission fits the purpose of the National Photography Collection for “building awareness of the politics of place and the role of photography in shaping cultural identity.”
Portrait is part of “What Do you think of Me?” series as part of is exhibiting in “In Our Own Image: Photography and the Social Gaze” at Photo Museum Ireland
Are you working on any future projects we should be keeping an eye on?
Apart from the research for the Sherkin project, I’ve mentioned, I am working on developing a new work based on the interviews I have with my subjects in “The Leftover Women (this project is about women in China who have still not married at 27 years of age and are referred to as Sheng Nu). The idea is about giving instructions to people at different stages in their life, and the reality slashes back to the ideal plan. It’s kind of a new chapter of Red Illuminates. Continuing with the instructive structure from the socialist country and interpreting it with AI images and machine learning rewrite instructions. I am still working and experimenting on the subject, I hope I will figure it out soon.
To contact or learn more about Jialin Long’s work, follow her on social media and check his website:
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