Irene Barry
Irene Barry was born in Tipperary and graduated from the National College of Art & Design with a BA in History of Art and Printed Textile design. Barry employs a variety of media in her work such as paint, illustration, and dressmaking, however print is her preferred method of expression. Her images are printed digitally using a mixture of substrates varying from silk to satin and cottons.
Regarding her relationship with water, Barry states that as an artist she has
"always been fascinated by the poetic, romantic, and transformative quaility of water. It has a rare power of turning the ordinary into something surreal, magical and otherworldly. I really enjoy staging photo shoots underwater. I love to set up bizzare photographic still lifes and manipulate elements such as light, scale, perspective and colour to create imagery which is both surreal and ethereal. I am really inspired by the abstract qualities that water creates when my sujects are sumerged. The forms are fragmented and distorted by the swirls and ripples created by the movement of the water. The interplay between light and colour underwater creates dreamlike effects."
Her images are stretched on canvas and are digitally printed on cotton panama and lamba prints mounted on diabond in Box frames. All work can be made to any custom size or fabric substrate. Please enquire within the gallery for futher information.
Irene also prints her designs on to fabrics and a range of silk and chiffon scarfs are available at Powerscourt Gallery from €60.
Barry's work was purchased by the Office of Public Works and featured on the cover of their 'Flow' exhibition catalogue 2010.
