Artist Biography/statement
Carmel was born and grew up on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean on the Loophead Peninsula on the mid west coast of Ireland. This was a simple and beautiful upbringing - where she climbed the wet slippy rocks and squinted her eyes tightly to see how far she could see on a particular day - sometimes, on a clear day, that was the Aran Islands, and on the South side it was Mount Brandon in it's various moods. The air was freshly blown in from the Atlantic and was crisp and clean, but sometimes the stormy seas were nothing short of scary, as it lashed the high cliffs and landed stones, debris and floods of salt water into the family's fields.
Carmel believes, it is this early simple, way of living that now influences her art. She strives to simplify the complicated. This she does by de-constructing the complicated into little elements - into unstructured parts - because her youth was exposed to so much unstructured sculptural beauty by naturally formed rocks, bridges, caves and beaches. She loves the freedom of the unstructured, and believes that people are over exposed to society systems and processes that perhaps hinder, the individual quest for self development, self exploration and self-enlightenment.
Carmel is deeply immersed in the Atlantic Ocean. Her 200 year old ancestral home stands within 80 metres of the Ocean, to the North, and less than 150metres to the west. The ocean and it's surrounding cliffs and flags were her and her siblings playground, and they still are! In her paintings however, she continually paints the fierce and angry ocean, the ocean that is trying to get her and her homestead, belting hard at the rocks in it's way. Rocks feature strongly in these works, the great protectors separating us from the sure devastation of the Ocean. These paintings are vigorous, giving the viewer a real feel for the rawness, the stubborness and the sheer power of the ocean, and the enduring strength of the rock. Gentle oceans are too passive for her psyche! The rocks have a heavy textured sculptural feel, whilst the ocean spray is bashing them at random with spray and water carving through at least some weak point in the rock. The scale of these paintings is large and the viewer is left in no doubt, as to the relative strengths of each, the aggressor and the protector.
Having Graduated from the University of Limerick with a 2.1 honours degree in Business - Carmel worked in a number of different industries including the US Multinational Company - Tellabs Ltd, before setting up her own Graphic Design Agency. After seven years working and developing the agency, to earn a well respected reputation amongst key National and International customers, Carmel felt the scope of creativity required by these customers did not match the scope of creativity, she wished to offer, in terms of her need for self expression through the chosen medium, and, so began the artistic process that challenges her mind processes ernestly, and without limits, and from which the energy flows are captured directly onto the Canvas and paper.
Carmel is glad to have the support of her husband Peter, and their three children ,Fergal, Robert and James, who have no difficulty picking their favourite works from her ongoing collection!
Carmel’s work has been collected both nationally and internationally, by corporate and private collectors, including Bank of Ireland, The Irish Department of Defence, Invesco Ltd, Dromoland Castle, Ross Hotel Killarney, Maldron Hotel etc.
Carmel has exhibited widely throughout Ireland in a series of one man shows, in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Killarney and annually her flagship solo exhibition at Dromoland Castle. She was also selected to Exhibit at the Greystones Arts Festival on two successive occasions. In 2006, she exhibited at Sala Barna, Barcelona, Spain by invitation from the organizing committee of the 33rd anniversary Grupo batik Art Exhibition. In 2009, Carmel was highly honoured by an invitation from the Florence International Selection Committee to represent Ireland at the 7th International Biennale dell Arte Contemporanea in Florence in December 2009. Carmel has just recently returned from this stunning show of 650 exhibiting artists from 72 countries worldwide.
In January 2010, after submission of my successful portfolio of work and writings, the Amsterdam Whitney Gallery in the epicentre of the Art Gallery District in New York City offered me Artist Representation with the gallery, the highlight in 2010 will be my first participation in a group show with New York and International artists at the 'Most Beautiful Gallery' in New York.
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