Resident artists Ceri and Ciaran show their work
An exhibition held in The Annex of Wexford Arts Centre in John’s Gate Street was the outcome of a nine-month residency by young Castlebridge-born artists Ceri Ryan and Ciaran Bowen.
During the residency Ceri and Ciaran explored new materials and processes to construct their pieces, crossing the boundaries between painting and sculpture.
Ceri graduated from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin in 2016, obtaining a first class Bachelor of Honours degree in Fine Art Painting. Her work is included in OPW and private collections.
Ciaran achieved a BA (Hons) degree in Fine Art from the Wexford School of Art and Design in 2015, the same year that he was awarded the Carlow Institute of Technology Purchase Award, whereby one of his degree pieces hangs in a permanent collection in the Wexford Campus.
Ciaran has exhibited nationally and internationally icluding at the Bones and Pearls Studio in London in a show curated by Anna Choutova.
The Annex exhibition entitled ‘Betwixt’ features sculpture-like pieces by Ciaran, made from silicone, glue, expanding foam, paint and other materials, that fall between two-dimensional and three-dimensional works.
Ceri’s work, also bordering on sculpture, is made from solid plaster mouldings infused with colours of varying intensity to create paintings that evoke partly-erased memory images from old family photos. Her work is influenced by her own cherished experiences where she endeavours to create a space or physical of the subconscious images which are usually inaccessible to everyone but the artist her self. The surface of the plaster is embedded with paint and dyes, representing moments, memories and traces from the past.
Ciaran says they chose the title Betwixt as the work is in between painting and sculpture. ‘My work investigates the relationship between painting and media...the surface of the individual work is allowed to be pushed outside the constraints of the traditional four-cornered canvas’, he said.
Both Ciaran and Ceri are delighted to have had the use of The Annex studio to allow them to experiment with their art practices and now that the residency has come to an end, they are looking forward to moving into the nearby new Bullring Mall art space in Wexford on July 2. The building has entrances off North Main Street and Mallin Street. Wexford Arts Centre bought some of their pieces for permanent collection and members of the public also invested in their work.