​Artist's Biography

 

 

Irene Barry is an Irish artist and self taught photographer. Her art education commenced in NCAD in Dublin from which she graduated in 2007 with a BA in History of Art and Printed Textile Design. Irene also spent time studying the arts in Ecole Duperre in Paris.

 

Barry's work has featured in a number of prominent group & solo exhibitions both nationally and internationally including exhibitions in the RHA's 182nd Annual Summer Show, PhotoIreland's Canon Open Programme in The Powerscourt Gallery, The Motorhouse Gallery at Farmleigh, The Peppercanister Gallery, The Wilde Creative Centre Merrion Square, and The OPW's Art of the State travelling exhibition titled 'Flow'.

 

In 2013 Barry's work was selected for the European travelling exhibition titled 40/40/40. The works travelled to Madrid, Rome, Warsaw, Rathfarnham Castle Dublin, & OPW Head Offices in Trim. The exhibition celebrated Ireland's 40 years in the European Union & Ireland hosting the EU presidency.

 

Photography and Print has always been her preferred method of expression. Barry lives and works as an artist in Dublin.

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Artist's Statement

 

In my work I stage photo shoots underwater. I set up surreal photographic still life’s manipulating elements such as light, scale, perspective and colour. I am inspired by water's unique properties- light, clarity, buoyancy, and reflectivity. The transformative quality of water has a power of turning the ordinary into something surreal magical and otherworldly. I am fascinated by the abstract qualities and the ethereal aesthetic that water creates when my subjects are submerged.The forms are fragmented and distorted by the swirls and ripples created by the movement of the water.

 

I have photographed everything from people to fabric, furniture, vintage dress's, toys, balloons, ribbons, umbrella’s, and bikes underwater. I shoot both day and night, and the different atmospheric effects have been really interesting to explore.