David Comiskey
b. 1983, Ireland
These paintings are informed by the principles of semiotics – specifically, how memory and context can alter the dynamic of familiar objects and locations. The colours and composition of the paintings are manipulated and arranged with the aim of heightening the presence or atmosphere found in each subject, usually resulting in pared-down images. This process tries to remove these subjects from their conventional contexts, thereby encouraging a re-evaluation of the viewer’s previous experience of these subjects.
I find it interesting that the drabbest places have the potential to provide the most intoxicating memories, and that seemingly innocent objects can be employed for unspeakable violence, instances where there can be substantial discrepancy between the actual and the hypothetical.
(Text: give(a)way catalogue, 2006)
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