Sinead M. Gallagher – Paintress

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Sinead M. Gallagher – Paintress

Bio:

Sinead M. Gallagher was born and raised in Co. Donegal on the Northwest coast of Ireland. After studying in Dublin and Derry, Sinead spent the following years in Vancouver, Canada and Berlin, Germany, as well as travelling throughout the southern United States. Since 2002, Sinead has established her own studio near Frankfurt, Germany, and exclusively dedicates her time to painting.

Artist’s statement:

The reason I paint is down to two things:

1/ I love music.

2/ I love oil paint.

If they didn’t exist, these paintings wouldn’t exist either, and I would be silently rocking in a corner somewhere. All of my work is executed to a soundtrack of rock & roll, punk rock, blues, klezmer, jazz, gypsy, country . . . the list goes on.

Whether you are a drummer, a poet or a painter, creativity all comes from the same place. So, for me, it is very natural to use music as a tool to create something very different. The energy and passion in the music is like petrol on a fire. It drives me on.

The same thing applies to oil paint. I love how it smells and looks. It has its own characteristics. It’s like driving an old car, you need to know what you are doing, and have a feel for it!

There is a thread running through all of my work - and that is the red I use. It is the same colour as blood, which is why my paintings are often referred to as aggressive. That’s what I like about it. It evokes feelings of love, hatred, passion, anger - all the things that keep us going.

I am fascinated by ‘old’ things and things that are falling apart: old factories, old cars, old towns, old bars. I try to recapture the textures of rust and worn-out surfaces in my paintings. I try not to think too much about an idea before I start it. Usually, my gut instinct is the one I follow. That’s how I hope people look at my stuff too: not with their head - but with their gut!

Here is a poem written about my paintings: 

Introduction to Sinead Gallagher’s work
By
M. A. Littler (director and poet)
In the present
A corner bar
Is being demolished
To make way for another stainless steel bistro
With halogen lighting
The museums are filled with empty canvases
3 x 4 meters
Concept Art.
You will find installations that confuse the
Cleaning personnel
Is this Art or Garbage?
 
In the present
Surfaces are being polished
Whatever rusts must be destroyed
Chance must be eradicated
It’s about control.
 
Music must be pretty
Clean
And Art must blend in with the furniture
 
This Art 
Is a punch in the face of the present
This art is raw
Unpolished
Elemental
It rusts.
Beauty is sought in decay
Decay is sought in beauty
Chance is invited
Rust is appreciated
Cracks are everywhere
Control is not desired
 
Jazz improvises
Here you'll find improvisation
Blues suffers
Here you'll find suffering
Rock n' Roll rages
Here you'll find rage
 
This Art is not the Art of the present
This art is not Nostalgic
It is the art of the future
For the wave will come 
And it will wash away
The stainless steel Bistros 
And the conceptual Art
All that will Remain
Will be the elemental
All that will remain
Will be the rust.

Sinead M. Gallagher – tMx 30 – 06/07