This new series of encaustic paintings is an ode to my deep connection to the landscape of the West coast of Ireland and its unapologetic Beauty.

The naked shores, the twisted trees, the deep cracks and the ruggedness of the stones.

I am particularly interested in the geological processes that have built up layer overtime, layers of the past that the harsh weather is slowly breaking down and revealing overtime.

I think of my art process very much akin to those geological processes

Like the natural forces that shape the landscape and the skyscape, each painting goes through numerous stages of building up, construction, destruction, growth, and decay.

As the paintings go through the physicality of what could be akin to an archaeological process, layers of pigmented beeswax are built up, scrapped back while cooled, scored, and shaped, creating highly tactile surfaces.

Remnants of what has come before are left as a new landscape unfold.

there is no resolution or end point, just process.

 

This new series of encaustic painting culminated as the effect isolation & continuous lockdowns has had on my personal and creative practise. Around me, I have seen loved ones fall, unable to process the isolation and the unforeseeable shifts life has thrown at us all. As a means to keep my mental and physical health in check, I have isolated myself in my studio, a liminal space where everything is possible, a space in between order and dis-order, destruction and creation,  where worlds are created through the narratives we bring each day.

A microcosm.

This liminal state of living has given shape to my life and has become my life work and penetrated my personal and creative practise.

The series of 9 unique   8” x 8” pieces are the results of 9 days, when I have set myself the challenge to work a painting a day, putting myself in a self-imposed liminal state.Each day, I have stood at that threshold, not knowing where to go but forward, a leap in the unknown, exploring, trusting the unknown and unfamiliar.Each piece has becoming a journey.Each standing on the edge of the other, between the past and the future.Each reflecting into one day, one moment, one story.

I could tell you the story for each and every painting. However I prefer your eyes to lead you where you need to go and reflect your own story in my work .The titles alone have been set to maybe give you a sense of direction, a gold tread to lead you out of the labyrinth.