Fabling a romance of alchemy, occult Ireland and psychogeography, 'Magnum Opus' is a visual palimpsest of the painting process. Possessed by curiosity, the seductive act of painting and the supernatural underpinnings of reality are pondered through the materiality of paint.
With a practice embedded in research, the pivotal painting 'Aether' illuminates a pair of sixteenth century cadaver monuments. Located in Drogheda, the cadaver monuments are skeletal stone effigies serving as reminders of mortality – 'memento mori'. Mirroring 'Aether', the collection of work alludes to archaic alchemical laboratory processes through the speculation of tone and complementary colours.
The paintings’ subjects are fixed on paper in fluid layers of pigment, washes and glazes. Paper is celebrated for its conceptual and physical lightness, which allows the work to be suspended in space. This mediates movement, contrasting with works on board tethered to walls. 'Magnum Opus' regards paint as an independent presence that exudes consciousness.
'Aether'; Oil on paper, 170 x 130cm
'Prima Materia'- 'Melancholia' (top); Oil on panel, 13 x 18cm, 'Chrysopoeia' (bottom); Oil on panel, 13 x 18cm
'Prima Materia'- 'Hit and Run' (top); Oil on panel, 13 x 18cm, 'No More Soul Left' (bottom); Oil on panel, 13 x 18cm
Installation view (L-R)- 'Hyper-saturated Simulation'; Oil on panel, 35 x 45cm; 'All that is Natural will be Rejected', Oil on panel, 35 x 45cm, 'Uaine', Acrylic on canvas and oil on paper, 160 x 120cm
'The Painter’s Muddy Humours'; Oil on paper, 180 x 70cm
'The Painter’s Muddy Humours'; Oil on paper, 180 x 70cm
'The Painter’s Muddy Humours'; Oil on paper, 180 x 70cm
'The Painter’s Muddy Humours'; Oil on paper, 180 x 70cm
Installation View, foreground: 'Corrchoigilt'; Oil on paper, 180 x 70cm
Installation view: 'Crithir: Jewels in the Sand'; Oil and acrylic on canvas, 160 x 120cm