Róisín O'Sullivan
Róisín O'Sullivan, 'Signs', 2023, Oil on found wood, 12.5 x 20.5cm
Róisín O’Sullivan makes paintings that engage with the natural world. Her practice slips into abstraction through intuition within the studio process, where she explores themes and questions of surface, line, gesture, and repetition. She uses wood—including shop-bought, reclaimed, and found—as the basis of her works. She experiments with mark-making by applying and removing paint, carving and burning on or into the wood. Her pieces are purposefully small in scale, with the viewing experience—an intimate act—playing a significant part in their existence.
Róisín O’Sullivan is a Visual Artist from the south of Ireland and began a four year studio contract with the Backwater Artists Group in Cork City, Ireland, in 2023. She achieved an MA in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, London, UK (2015) and a BA in Fine Art at CCAM, GMIT in Galway, Ireland (2011). Recent group exhibitions include the Backwater Artists Group bi-annual members exhibition curated by Kevin Kavanagh Gallery at Lavit Gallery in Cork City, and currently the 194th RHA Annual Exhibition, RHA Gallery (Royal Hibernian Academy), Dublin, Ireland.
Recent solo exhibitions include I See Skies at Triskel Arts Centre in Cork City, Ireland (2022-2023), curated by Miguel Amado, and Under a Crescent Moon at Rathfarnham Castle OPW in Dublin, Ireland (2023). In 2022 the artist completed the prestigious twelve-month Tony O’Malley residency, administered by the Royal Hibernian Academy. She is a recipient of multiple awards by the Arts Council of Ireland including the Visual Arts Bursary 2022. O’Sullivan has recently been awarded the Cork County Council Creative Artists Bursary Scheme in 2024.
O’Sullivan has presented her work in exhibitions throughout Ireland and overseas, and her work is held in both private and public collections, including the Office of Public Works, Ireland.