Ross Stewart
Ross Stewart is a Kilkenny based artist currently working from the Castlecomer Estate Yard studios. His artwork is semi abstract; based on landscape studies but organically developed, focussing on the atmosphere and mood of the place, rather than the representational form. His highly textured mixed media paintings suggest wide expanses of bog or moor, solitary trees or boulders with vivid, intricate details submerged under glazes of earthy colours.
“I have always been inspired by the beauty of the Irish landscape and tried to capture the subtle atmosphere, light and moods of the land. I use limited palettes, natural hues, high contrast focal points against subtle gradients, anything I can to help convey the emotion of the place. Using this as the starting point of the piece, I allow it to develop into something more than a landscape painting. The painting can become a mix of abstract shapes and symbols, perhaps interspersed with small sketches or printed shapes, developing organically toward an amalgam of real and flat space. My art is always about hidden items and layers covering layers. It is about balance of opposites; calm versus chaos, light against dark, colour amid greys; how the shapes within the frame can play with emphasis, tension, symmetry and balance...
...I would like to think of the finished piece conveying...the energy of exploration, of the creative process, of hiding and revealing precious elements and layers, of working to achieve that ultimate balance or tension.”
Ross Stewart has exhibited across Ireland and the UK over the last 10 years and his work is held in public and private collections internationally. Stewart has also worked as Art Director on the feature film 'The Secret of Kells' which was released in 2009 to great international acclaim and in 2010 has been shortlisted for Oscar nomination in the animated feature film category.
