Caoimhe Murphy is an Irish artist based in Dublin and Meath. She is currently a final year student in NCAD, Dublin, studying Fine Art. Painting.
Artist Statement
Prompted by curiosity, a painting-based practice is undertaken. The artistic process is influenced by research and the materiality of paint. The work is an illuminated language which is embedded in the alchemy of colour, portrayal of the subject and symbiosis of painted states.
With an emphasis on oil painting supported by fluid undertones of gouache and acrylic paint, the work congeals in layers of paint, glazes and washes. This generates a visual palimpsest of the material process. Scale mediates between vast stretches of paper and postcard sized panels. The use of surface is playful, contrasting between: stretched canvas, panels, paper and raw untethered canvas. Paper is celebrated due to its conceptual and physical lightness. The work draws on ideas surrounding the psychology of space, alchemy, the occult, Irish mythologies and the magic of the Irish language. Furthermore, the supernatural underpinnings of reality and perception of time are pondered with reference to the Celtic Otherworld. The work is also concerned with mediating the subject-object relationship in painting. The work aspires to reveal a balance between the seduction of paint and the mysteries of reality provoked by the research.
CV
Education 2022 BA (Hons) Fine Art, National College of Art Design, Dublin, Ireland. First Class Honours. Exhibitions 2022: 'Magnum Opus', NCAD Works 2022, NCAD, Dublin. 2022: 'Ceantar', Margaret Clarke Gallery, NCAD, Dublin. 2022: 'Mail Art Exhibition', Online Exhibition of NCAD Alumni curated by Sarah Beegan (Dublin). 2021: 'Bloom', Virtual Yellow Box Gallery, NCAD, Dublin. 2021: 'Positives: Painting in the Pandemic', Online booklet exhibition of NCAD students in partnership with the NTMA Sports and Social Club.
Publications 2021: ‘Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’, Emerge, Issue 2, February.