Emmet Kierans
www.emmetkieransart.com
@emmetkieransart
Statement:
I’ve always liked the German term ‘kopfkino’, which translates as ‘head-cinema’, as a way of succinctly describing the inner narrative that accompanies everyday experience. My paintings are interested in examining the framework and underbelly of this inner reality and questioning both how this internal narrative is conceived and how it influences our thoughts, imagination, dreams and desires.
I use certain themes and motifs that exist in the popular imagination, from fairy tales to film and advertising, as the building blocks of this imagined world. By delving into the roots of this familiar imagery the work has the ability to be both easily relatable and unsettling. The viewer is invited to engage with the work by providing their own narrative context, and in so doing must enter the imagined space of the paintings.
As the world in which the paintings operate has progressed and evolved a central thread is archetypal imagery that is passed from one generation to the next. Although these archetypal images take on new forms and guises, they keep us tethered to past ideals and conventions on an unconscious level. My paintings are a way of accessing and observing these nebulous forces that play an important role in how we frame and interpret our everyday lives.
www.emmetkieransart.com
@emmetkieransart
Statement:
I’ve always liked the German term ‘kopfkino’, which translates as ‘head-cinema’, as a way of succinctly describing the inner narrative that accompanies everyday experience. My paintings are interested in examining the framework and underbelly of this inner reality and questioning both how this internal narrative is conceived and how it influences our thoughts, imagination, dreams and desires.
I use certain themes and motifs that exist in the popular imagination, from fairy tales to film and advertising, as the building blocks of this imagined world. By delving into the roots of this familiar imagery the work has the ability to be both easily relatable and unsettling. The viewer is invited to engage with the work by providing their own narrative context, and in so doing must enter the imagined space of the paintings.
As the world in which the paintings operate has progressed and evolved a central thread is archetypal imagery that is passed from one generation to the next. Although these archetypal images take on new forms and guises, they keep us tethered to past ideals and conventions on an unconscious level. My paintings are a way of accessing and observing these nebulous forces that play an important role in how we frame and interpret our everyday lives.
The Ritual
60 x 58cm Oil on linen 2022 |
Forest Meeting
160 x 155cm Oil on linen 2021 |