Mixed media artwork depicting a large bird of prey, likely a hawk or an eagle, against a blue background, with a semi-circular textured area at the bottom.

‘Messenger’ acrylic and collage on panel, 20 x 25 cms (2024)

Empty room viewed through a glass door with text reading "A Meditation on Birds, Frances Ryan, 1st June 2024 - 29th August 2024," and opening hours.
Gallery wall with four artworks: abstract black and white print, minimalist tree illustration, bird and text sketch "who lives in the Silent Forest?", colorful bird painting with red background.
Empty room with white walls, large window, wooden door, concrete floor, and overhead skylights.
Art gallery interior with various paintings on white walls, a wooden table with two green chairs beneath a large skylight.
Front view of Ballinglen Gallery with a window display featuring flowers, located on a sunny day.
Art gallery wall with paintings, including a prominent piece of a red bird on a green background in a decorative pink frame.
Art studio interior with paintings on walls, a wooden table, green chairs, and natural light from overhead windows.
Art gallery interior with paintings on white walls, a wooden table with books and chair, and a window with view of the outside.
Abstract painting of a white bird perched against a dark blue, starry background with scattered blue dots.
Two paintings on a white wall. The left painting shows white birds on a dark blue background with gold dots. The right painting features a bird with a long beak on a green background.
Abstract grayscale artwork with wavy lines and textures


Project Space - ‘A Meditation on Birds’

June to August 2024

at the Ballinglen Gallery, Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ballycastle, Co. Mayo

Thanks to the wonderful team at Ballinglen, I was offered this gallery to use as a project space for the summer months of 2024. This allowed scope to experiment and present ideas resulting from my encounters with birds in the landscape, in museums and in imagined spaces, using paint, collage, photography, drawing and monoprint.

The work began to develop in my studio at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Co. Monaghan (Art Residencies), during research visits to the Natural History Museum Dublin (private drawing days) and several photographic sessions at the Archive of the Ulster Museum in Co. Down.  

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A Ballinglen Fellow since 2008, for this exhibition Frances was awarded an SIAP (Support for Individual Artists Programme) grant in 2023 by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland for materials and three week-long residencies at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Co. Monaghan.    

Frances trained at IADT in Dublin graduating (Fine Art) in 1997.  Her work is included in the Ballinglen Arts Foundation Archive, Office of Public Works (OPW), the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Department of Finance & Personnel Northern Ireland, AIB Bank, the Four Seasons/Intercontinental Hotel, Druids Glen Resort, Westport Town Council, Irish Business & Employers Confederation Dublin,  and the Boyle Civic Collection, Co. Roscommon.

Surreal painting of a hand holding a bird against a starry night background, with yellow and blue accents.

‘Touch’