IRISH HARE Painting

Colin was born in Lurgan, Co Armagh, Northern Ireland. After completing a BA (Hons) Degree in Fine Art at Belfast College of Art, he continued his studies in Manchester with a Masters Degree in Fine Art. His work has been exhibited widely throughout Britain and Ireland, including Scandinavia and the USA. During his career he has been the recipient of several prestigious awards and received high profiile commissions. He is represented in several private, public and corporate collections, including the Arts Council for Northern Ireland collection.He has been involved in several collaborative projects between Irish artists and American artists in Ireland and the USA.For several years now my work has been preoccupied with the elements of atmosphere, space and dramatic lighting found within confined internalised spaces. Initially these were fully abstracted explorations, expressed through a series of large charcoal renderings and bold, vivid collages. However to these qualities I began to introduce a further dimension, a feeling of movement, to represent the dynamic of an animal as it disturbs the parameters of the other qualities. These movements are implied by abstract gestures and surface markings, at times very intense and erratic, to convey the strength and tenacity of the creature as it bolts through its notional externalised landscape.In my recent series of work I have continued to draw onto new surfaces and mediums, exposing the results to light sensitive lithographic plates and experimenting with the photographic developing process itself to obtain and enhance the textural qualities produced on the original drawing surface i.e. the subsequent marks and patterns left through the effect of reticulation.