Olivia O’Dwyer
Favourite woman artist and why/how has she/her art or life inspired you?
My favourite women artists would have to be Helen Frankenthaler and Joan Mitchell. Helen’s composition of just colour and plains have influenced me. Their strength when it was a difficult time to be a female artist, pioneering the way for us today, with their uncompromising attitude and fierce intellect. I admire a lot of female artists working today as well — my studio neighbour Helen Gaynor, for example, is great for feedback on my work and we have great discussions on the complexity of painting. I also admire artists like Alice Maher and Genieve Figgis who are representing Ireland internationally.
Women globally are far less represented in galleries and museums than their male counterparts. Have you yourself found the art world difficult to navigate as a woman or have you come up against any particular obstacles and how did you deal with them? Do you support all-women shows etc..? Why/why not? Have you noticed any changes?
I have been rejected, not because of being a woman but because I have made mistakes. I keep working and putting myself out there. The best advice you can give yourself is to keep working and the opportunities will come. Good luck comes from hard work. I have come across sexism, but not so much from the art world. I think it’s very much an even playing field in Ireland. There is great support here from both sexes. I have only been painting for about 5/6 years which is really like three minutes in the art world. I know it’s a long game. When I do get caught up or dissatisfied I just go back to the work.
When did you first discover art? and when did you realise that you wanted to pursue it professionally?
My dad was a painter and had a studio/gallery at home. I was brought up on the smell of turps and I modelled for classes and stage set designs. My dad would run competitions and I would enter so I’d say I developed an interest in art at a very young age. I went to Limerick School of Art, where I am from, but didn’t practise for years. I pursued other careers and had a family. I discovered I wasn’t very happy and fulfilled so I started to draw and paint again and really built my practice from scratch. I have been a professional artist for about five years now.
What have been your influences? (Anything in history? A particular work of art? Other artists? Landscape? Movies? Family/friends? Literature?)
I was just saying the other day that it’s very hard to know all your influences. Coincidentally, I then went to an artist talk given by painter Richard Gorman, he said something similar - that it’s impossible to really know what influences you. I just thought it was an interesting angle on the whole thing. I think work you see from your younger student days stays with you, like when you first see a Monet or Bacon - which for me was astonishing. But Frankenthaler for sure for her compositions, Robert Ryman for his use of whites. Lately I have really been enjoying Thomas Nozkowski and Forrest Bess. They are making me look at painting in a braver and bolder way, cause they are uncompromising in their approach.
What is your process like? (Do you do a lot of research? Do you favour an intuitive approach? Do you do a lot of preparatory studies? Do you use photography/digital media? Do you concentrate on just one piece or do you work on several at the same time? How long do you spend working on each piece?)
I soak up the landscape like a sponge. I went to Nepal last July and it is still giving me loads of images to work on like the temples and the Himalayas. I work in a series, in a motif which I build upon. I then manipulate any accidents and discoveries that arise out of that.
Different elements of landscape inspire me. I see certain “anomalies” in the sky that feed my work. The paintings also always allude to water, the waves and tones of water.
I read an artist saying that there is so much in the subconscious to draw from that we don’t need much more. I am in full agreement.
I tend to build up layers of varying tones and let it spill over the edge of the canvas. Lately I draw over the paint. It’s quite engaging, letting the pencil move across the canvas… very gestural, the lines almost appear hair-like.
I generally complete a painting in three days as I favour smaller canvases. In my recent solo show, the works were all 20 x 20 cm with one larger painting measuring 100 x 100 cm. I find working on a few at the same time helps keep your attention. It also feels exciting and fresh.
Do you have any advice for other artists? Particularly students/emerging?
Work work work, stay at it even when it seems like you are not making headway. I heard a great piece of advice from Maggi Hambling in an online video — make art your best friend, go to it when your sad, angry, depressed, happy or randy ... things like that stay in my head and help you. And be objective about your work, recognise what’s not working quickly. Stay alert, don’t meander through, doing the same thing.
Do you have any exhibitions coming up? Where/when? Tell us about them/what are they about?
I have been invited to exhibit alongside works of the Arts Council Collection of Ireland here in Wexford. It’s a very exciting show with some of Ireland’s leading contemporary artists such as Alice Maher and Janet Mularney.
