Patrick O’Donnell
Artist Biography
Born in Leeds to Irish parents in 1974, Patrick gained BA (Hons) Fine Art at Southampton Institute in 1997. He is interested in the perception of real and metaphorically constructed space, the boundaries and opacities of shape, colour, line and edge and the subsequent effects when they meet, merge or dissolve. Working in a reductive and non figurative manner offers him the freedom to filter a variety of inspirations, ideas and experience through exploring the relationships of simple formal elements. A major preoccupation of his work over the last decade involves exploring memories and a sense of place by taking inspiration from details of his immediate environment, domestic settings and places of personal connection. Glimpses of intersections that commonly appear more in the peripheral vision now taking centre stage as the impetus for his compositions. His colour choices are initially informed by making direct references to the architectural colour schemes he has experienced, with the paintings then taking on their own life as the process evolves in a quest for balance and equilibrium on the picture plane. He currently paints with oils as they give him time to sit with his decisions for a while before he has to commit. He enjoys the serendipity of marks the removal of areas can leave to add history and agency to a painting. Patrick’s practice oscillates between painting, printmaking,and site specific works. He is based at Phoenix Art Space and Studios Brighton. Alongside his art practice he is co - curator of the H_A_R_D_P_A_I_N_T_I_N_G group in Brighton which has staged projects in Iceland, Denmark, Bulgaria and the UK.
