Kathy Tynan

Born in Dublin, where she still lives and works, Kathy Tynan received a BA in Fine Art (Painting) from the National College of Art & Design, Dublin in 2008 and an MA Art in the Contemporary World from NCAD in 2011. Her paintings and drawings focus on details and overlooked aspects of everyday landscapes, particularly urban and domestic environments.

Walking and looking are important parts of her research, and she seeks out moments within her daily routine when the familiar becomes illuminated. While walking her dog (who often features in her paintings), making food or waiting for the bus she notes details that appear visually awkward or out of sync with their surroundings. This process is totally unplanned, and when something catches her eye she stops and photographs it, later making a painting based on the experience. Her painting style reflects the naïve gaze that becomes available in moments of extreme engagement with ordinary, everyday things. Off-beat and engaging, her work depicts scenes extracted from her day-to-day life with a childlike enthusiasm, re-focusing viewers’ attention on the poetic potential of the quotidian.

Kathy Tynan applied for a Golden Fleece Award to support a new project. Her collaborative research with writer and performance artist Isadora Epstein will focus on the work of the Dun Emer Guild, a collective of Irish women artists founded in 1902. Kathy will make paintings for a resulting play in the form of large-scale wall hangings and shaped 3D canvases, as well as more traditional paintings on canvas. These will act both as an independent body of work and a stage-set.