Peter Healy (Irish, b. 1973)

I am an Irish artist with a background in illustration. I now live full time in Houston Texas. These days I work in series and, also, individual paintings, drawings, and assemblage. My mediums are oil paint, acrylic, ink, pencil, collaged fabric, assembled wood/ various 3d objects and paper. I try to let ideas come to me and sometimes let the pieces speak to me through their creation using editing as part of the process. They are usually colorful and often try to illustrate the contrast of living in the sparsely populated Fermanagh countryside of my youth and living in the city with a diverse population. I have lived in Ireland, England, Amsterdam, and Los Angeles. I now call Houston, Texas home. Where I live with my wife and two daughters, two cats and a dog. These experiences and diverse populations have influenced my work. There are so many ways to represent population architecture and nature, that I am constantly going between mediums to describe these relationships.

ARTIST STATEMENT

A lot of the time the shapes in my paintings and drawings are like characters or individuals trying to coexist in a space on canvas or paper, just like we do in cities. In some series I am with the viewer looking through a window or down a tunnel at forms floating in space. Sometimes the shapes go off the edge; I want the viewer to think “What's around the corner?”, much like we all wonder what’s around the next corner in our everyday lives. I am interested in relationships between the objects I make, movement, landscapes or environments, composition, and space.

My assemblage work is all about collaging 2d/ 3d forms. A lot of the time it’s about reusing wood and material to give it a second life. It’s like making a jigsaw puzzle whilst inventing the pieces. When hurricanes happen there is so much material ruined. I wanted to find a way to reuse it and mix it with drawing or painting. It also gives me the opportunity to make unusual shapes.

In general, I always loved getting lost in paintings, so I want the viewer to do the same. I want to make work that takes people away. The landscapes I looked out across over the years always make me think of the road ahead, distance not yet covered and the possibilities for the future. So, I try to emulate that feeling in my work.

EDUCATION

1994-97, BA, Graphic Design and Illustration, University of Central Lancashire, England

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2021, The Big Show, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX

2021, A5 traveling drawing group show, touring: N. Ireland; NSW Australia; Cyprus; Netherlands; Lithuania; New Mexico; Argyl Scotland; Gallway; Greece; and India.

2021, Solo, IN FLUX, Objets Trouvés, Oklahoma City, OK

2021, Solitude in Bloom, two-man show with Matt Messinger, Hardy & Nance Gallery, Houston, TX

2020, Adaptation: A Virtual Exhibition, Artists for Artists, Houston, TX

2020, The Pandemic Faire, Glasstire Online Exhibition, Glasstire Magazine

2019, The Joy of Painting, Devin Borden Gallery, Houston, TX

2018, Two man show with Matt Messinger, Hardy & Nance Gallery, Houston, TX

2016- 2017, C.A.R., Los Angeles, CA

SELECTED PUBLIC COMMISSIONS

2020, Be a Houston Angel, Mural for Houston Angels Nonprofit Organization, located at 813 McKee St., Downtown Houston, TX

Peter Healy

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