Paul Hallahan; Just three words; Culture Moves Europe
Paul Hallahan
Paul Hallahan
- Cineál Tionscadail
- Painting and video
- Teideal
- Paul Hallahan; Just three words; Culture Moves Europe
- Funding Strand
- Culture Moves Europe
While on a residency in SÍM in Reykjavik, Iceland, the artist Paul Hallahan worked on a series of paintings and videos looking at the idea of land and environment.
The project Paul worked on while part taking in a residency in SÍM Reykjavik is a series of paintings and videos looking at the idea of land and environment. The work takes the island of Ireland and looks at it from 40 different viewpoints, a portrait of sorts.
Paul wanted to challenge his own view of reality versus a learned idea of a land and space. The island, seen as a living breathy entity, began this process. A land which we have seen as ours, which in fact just sustains us. We live on it and our mind's eye idea of it is not even right, it is neither flat nor stationary: it lives, breathes, is curved in all directions, and also can be seen differently from a sea view.
This began a project that has taken over 3 years of research, gathering and painting. The residency allowed Paul time and space to go through the source material from forty locations and begin to develop watercolours which were the basis for oil paintings.
‘I loved my month at SIM in Iceland. They were so welcoming and over the course of the residency I met so many artists from around the world all working differently. The diversity of the ideas and backgrounds was amazing and allowed me to think and rethink ideas I was working on. The support allowed me to focus on the job at task, developing my work, and engaging with a new community.’ Paul HallahanAcross Borders - Across the Board (2023 - 2024)
Artist Information
Paul Hallahan is an Irish artist based at the Fire Station Artists’ Studios in Dublin. His work is a continuous returning to the core questions of nature, perception, and that shifting ground between clarity and uncertainty. He primarily paints, but his practice also includes sculpture and video; each medium offers a slightly different route toward contemplation.