Ross McDonnell

Executed in the very traditional medium of oil on canvas, these paintings present somewhat obscured representations, partially legible through a layering of large cubist-like expanses of colour. In making these paintings, McDonnell builds up supporting surfaces, combining canvas, plaster, mdf, glues and various primers. On this surface oil paint is applied like a varnish: it seeps into the unprimed areas of the surface to form images, shifting from gloss to matt. This base surface is then worked on with more paint while some sections are removed with turpentine washes. In this way McDonnell works in a forward and back motion, overpainting and erasing, creating works that seem to have several ghost-like layers of imagery, each one interrupting the next.

The work shifts between direct and abstract associations, allowing for interactive reinterpretation and reposition by the viewer.

Ross McDonnell graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art from NCAD in 2002.