Ivan lives in Newmarket on Fergus, Co.Clare, a short drive to the location of his current subject matter of the coast. While his degree from LSAD is in Printmaking, in more recent years he has re-orientated his studio time towards painting. While initially it was to adapt the possibilities of using colour, over time it developed into an expressive form, to explore the environments which interested him – city streets, building sites, managed forests.
The environment of the shoreline has been the fuel for his work of the last 4 years, borne partly from memories of growing up by the sea in Co.Waterford, and from encountering the unique, primal aspects of the Clare coast.
‘My work of the last few years are of personal exploration of the Clare coastline. The paintings are very much rooted towards using strong compositional arrangements while trying to achieve the physicality and energy of the scene through working with the paint. My application tends to be loose and open to chance to free the image to something dynamic and kinetic, mirroring the constantly changing environment. I need to keep the surface lively and interesting to keep me and ultimately the viewer engaged. I aim to imply realism with an almost abstract treatment of paint. The coast is a perfect subject to work like this.
My recordings of sketches, on-site paintings, photos and footage archive a sense of the place which I try to emulate with studio paintings’
Solo shows
2018 'Found Edges' Joan Clancy Gallery
2017 'Doonmacfelim' Triskel Art Centre, Cork
Group Shows
2019 Courthouse Gallery Summer Exhibition, Ennistymon, Co.Clare.
2019 'A Question of love', Blackbird Gallery, Kilkenny.
2018 RHA Annual Exhibition (Invited)
2018 Limerick Figure Drawing Society (LFDS) group show
2017 Boyle Art Festival 'Facing West'
2016 LFDS group show
2011 Limerick Printmaker's Open show
1999 International Student Exhibition, Falmouth College of Art, Cornwall, UK.
Awards and notes
2019 Awarded residency at Cill Rialaig Artists Retreat, Ballinskelligs, Co.Kerry
2018 Artist in residence at Bloom Festival, Phoenix Park by invitation of the Kildare Gallery.
2015 Sky Landscape Artist of the Year contestant
