SUN, WIND & RAIN. DON’T COMPLAIN.

Artist Kieran Walsh brings his work together in this pop-up residency this October to share recent portraits and landscapes. The paintings reflect a deep connection to Plymouth’s people and places as he prepares to leave the city. It’s a fond farewell for now, but by no means a goodbye.

Private View: Thursday 23 October, 5-8pm
Show Open: Friday 24 and Satuday 25 October, 12:30 - 16:30pm

Kieran Says:

“I moved to Plymouth in 2012 to study for my BA in Fine Art at the University of Plymouth and have lived here ever since. Over the years I have developed a deep connection and working relationship with this city; moving here enabled my sense of adventure, gave me the freedom, time and space necessary to grow as a person, and provided a supportive environment for me to become a practising artist. After thirteen years of living in Plymouth I will be moving to Spain with my partner at the end of October. I am excited for the new life and opportunities that this will bring, but I am very sad to be leaving this city which has become my home.

This exhibition consists of a collection of recent paintings, all of which are either Plymouth landscapes or portraits of people who live here; The portraits are of friends, or my partner, who come and sit for me in the studio; The landscapes were done in response to drawings made from life out and about in Plymouth. Drawing is the mainspring of my practice, and I have been drawing from life all over this city for the past ten years or more. The content, subjects, narrative and handling for my paintings emerges very slowly out of this process.

Far from feeling like I have exhausted Plymouth of its subject matter, I feel like I am only just getting started; Plymouth has an incredibly varied and beautiful landscape, as well as an interesting and diverse culture in a relatively small space; The more I look the more there is to see and one painting naturally leads to another.

This exhibition then represents the end of an era for me, but a single point in time of a journey in painting which can never be finished”.

ABOUT KIERAN WALSH

Kieran is a painter and drawer, who has been living and working in Plymouth since 2012. He received his BA in Fine Art from the University of Plymouth in 2016, studied on the Drawing Intensive at the Royal Drawing School in 2020, and received his masters in Painting from Arts University Plymouth in 2023. Kieran works predominantly from life, or from drawings which were done from life, as well as occasionally working from memory or new subjects suggested in the process of painting.

Instagram handle is: @kieranwalshart

Website: kieranwalsh-work.com

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ACCESS INFORMATION
All studios, except ground floor (the project space where Megan will be based) are stairs access only. There is an accessible toilet and parking at The Box (next door)

About #DIYRESIDENCIES at Grow
Artists and collectives take over the project space to experiment and test out new ideas. These residencies support artistic exploration across sustainability, food and drink, inclusion, grassroots culture, music, and heritage. All with the aim of nurturing Plymouth’s creative scene.