Without Creativity I am nothing. I would dive into a deep depression. I need Art. Art is everything to me.
Ronan Cahill lives in Livingston, Scotland.
Robert Montgomery the Scottish poet/neon artist had one that read, “The point of Art is to touch the heartstrings of someone you will never meet.” I think as artists that’s exactly what we are trying to do. There is an importance to leave a vague mystery in each work, to get the viewer thinking. I love when people see things I have not seen within the work. It means the painting is alive.
My artistic influences are many, from music album covers growing up to artists that the young Ronan was inspired by. Schiele, Munch, Picasso and Van Gogh. Jack Yeats. Basquiat was a huge influence when I was growing up in inner city Dublin in the 90s. There was a confidence, a boldness, and immediacy to his works. He was not afraid to get to the point. I read a lot on art and artists. I have always loved Scottish Artist Joan Eardley’s work. The wild abstractness of her landscapes is amazing. Later influences are Alvaro Castegnet and Aine Divine (for the boldness of watercolour), the abstract paintings of Tracy Emin, portraits of Jenny Saville, and the huge expansive pieces by Julie Mehretu.
I do not tend to come to the blank page with any preconceptions. I am an artist. I create things from nothing. As the initial layers go on, they influence each other. The previous stroke has an influence, on the next one and so on. I like to think that with each layer I try to bring some level of balance to the next one, and so on. The balance is compositional, it is line versus colour, it is warmth versus coolness, it is a balance of dark versus light. All going back to the chaos of the first layer. As artists we are illusionists, and I strive to create the illusion of depth on the two-dimensional surface continuously.
I start always from nothing, a blank page. I come to the page without preconceptions about what will happen (this defeats all artist’s block and negative thoughts that I have no ideas today. It is my job to show up only). The first layer is the wild layer. This is where the excitement comes from. Colours blend and mix. I have studied colour theory, and art theories concerning composition/balance/ light/dark, warm/cool. At the moment that is within me, and comes out organically as I paint. I don’t consciously think so much in the process itself. It is my job however to create a painting that gives the viewer a dynamic interest. I try to induce a sense of movement. With each layer, I see something different within the piece, and the piece drives itself in a different direction. The closer to the end of the process I start to introduce details. I get quite lost in the works, time disappears, and there is just me and the page. Sometimes it seems like I have miles to walk with the work, but suddenly out of nowhere a minor detail added resolves the piece. I spend a lot of time just standing back and staring into the work. I then know which way to go next.
For me, painting is a process of discovery. I become absorbed in colour, texture, line and washes until the normal sense of time disappears. At some point the work seems to announce that it is complete.
Every painting then informs the next. Something is learned, discarded or developed further, creating a continuous thread through the work. I don't have a destination in mind. The interest lies in discovering where the process leads.
I once regarded painting, drawing and digital art as separate activities. I now understand them as parts of the same creative practice, different ways of exploring and making images.
Becoming older has also brought a greater sense of purpose. The ambition I had when I was young never disappeared, but today it feels less concerned with recognition and more concerned with the work itself. My aim is simply to create a body of work that feels meaningful and authentically mine.
For that reason, I create every day. Each image is part of an ongoing conversation with the one that came before it and, hopefully, a step towards something I haven't discovered yet.
Its the artists job to show up and paint regardless of how we are feeling. The painting process then reflects the colour of that particular mood. Everything is an inspiration whether negative or positive.
Without Creativity I am nothing. I would dive into a deep depression. I need Art. Art is everything to me.
The Art itself is enough for me. A body of work I can lay down and say I Was Here.
Contact
I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities. Let's connect.
07549896488