Institution
Limerick School of Art and Design (LSAD)
Medium
Painting
Graduation Year
Class of 2026
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I investigate animals as thresholds positioned between the tangible world and envisioned spiritual or mythical realms. Working primarily through painting, I construct compressed, shallow spaces where human and animal figures exist in close proximity, yet remain perceptually misaligned. Drawing on elements of Irish folklore and the Gothic, while resisting direct narrative, my work considers how animals operate as mediators of a liminal space that is not fully accessible to human awareness. Recurring motifs of horses, dogs, and cattle function not as symbols but as agents of attention. Their stillness and orientation suggest an awareness beyond the picture plane, often directed toward something the viewer cannot see. In contrast, human figures are rendered in varying states of attunement - listening, distracted, or withdrawn - creating a hierarchy of perception within the work. Gaze is a crucial aspect to the work, as it evokes tension between the figures and the viewer and creates a sense of unease. Gaze invites the viewer to become an active participant in the paintings. The use of profile and frieze-like compositions references historical visual languages, including ancient reliefs, where figures are contained within the surface and denied full spatial freedom. This containment sustains a sense of suspended time and unresolved presence, echoing the quiet unease associated with Gothic traditions and folkloric spaces. Colour operates structurally rather than symbolically. Subtle shifts in tone and density, particularly through the use of red, suggest variations in perceptual access rather than emotional states. Figures may dissolve, compress, or intensify within the painted field, reflecting differing relationships to the boundary that underpins the work. Across the body of work, I construct a quiet but insistent tension, where meaning is not declared but felt through proximity, gaze, and the uneasy awareness that something remains just beyond reach.
