Ciara Roche's small paintings on paper depict unnerving, cinematic
inspired scenes—seemingly ordinary interiors that portray a world held in
a permanent state of suspense. This frequent sense of unease in Roche’s
paintings could be seen as a sort of critique of the hugely capitalistic
world we live in. Of the dark side of situations, Roche writes that her
solution is ‘to paint those fears, acknowledging the things that might
happen, like exploring different versions of my life’. Viewing her works
is like entering an uncanny world of suspense made up of light and shadow.
Her lushly rendered paintings, made with wet and quickly applied oil paint
to create a sense of luminosity and movement on the surface, capture
timeless moments for the viewer to ponder.
Ciara Roche received her MA Art Research and Collaboration (2019) and a BA
in Visual Arts Practice (2015) from the Institute of Art Design and
Technology/IADT. Roche is a recipient of the 2022 Next Generation Award,
numerous Arts Council & Art Links Bursaries and won the Éigse Graduate
Prize for outstanding work in VISUAL with Carlow Arts Festival in 2020.
She has had solo exhibitions at the Ashford Gallery, RHA (2022); mother’s
tankstation, Dublin (2021); The LAB, Dublin (2019); and St Carthage Hall,
Lismore Castle Arts, Waterford (2016). A major exhibition of her work was
held at the Butler Gallery, Kilkenny 2024.