Clare O’Leary
Clare-Louise O’Leary was born in Malaysia, and it is the natural colours and plants which inspire her current practice. She captures within her work not only the beautiful forms and colours, but the atmosphere. It is this atmosphere of being totally immersed within the vegetation that the viewer experiences when viewing her work.
The compositions fill the canvases with an intensity of forms layering over each other, colours moving across the space. No area is left: you are constantly drawn back into the image. Where sky can be glimpsed, it is found amongst the plants or in small pools of water. Reflections within the water mirror back the plant shapes sitting outside the canvas or those on the edges.
In some paintings the water takes on a deeper element, adding depth and interest: plants found beneath the surface. This draws the viewer’s eye into the work and balances the intense plant work surrounding the water.
Light also forms an important part of Clare’s work, playing across plants and highlighting areas of interest. It falls gently on leaves and spots of textures causing the viewer to pause and absorb the subtle variations found across the composition.
Paint is applied with brush strokes which mimic the forms and is layered, revealing subtle changes in tones and colours. This use of layering adds further depth and textural interest to the work.
Some would see the paintings as simple representations of Clare’s vision of plants; however she has used the work to symbolise more than this. She is fascinated with the way Nature demonstrates the capacity for plants to coexist amongst their differences. For Clare, this ability to capture the harmony and peace is her way of expressing to the world how we as humans should live.
