Irene Watson

Irene is an expressive painter. She studied Art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee and worked in a variety of arts roles, including a few years in New Zealand. In 2004 she founded Artspace Scotland in Perth which ran as an educational charity for many years.

Irene has stated that her work is influenced by the impressionist traditions which we can see referenced in the brushwork and the use of cool colour versus warm in some pieces. Yet, the influence of 1960’s Modernism figure on field is strong as well as the domestic references of artists such as Eva Hesse. The skill in her handling of paint, her strong use of colour embodies a training in modernism combined with a break from the tradition to a softer more personal approach.

Her practice is a set of meticulously planned works resonating with a sense of a personal relationship. By exploring the concept of landscape in a nostalgic way, she investigates the dynamics of landscape. Rather than presenting a factual reality, an illusion is fabricated to conjure the realms of our imagination.

“When I paint I feel the love of art history comes into my work; the hours I have spent in the Rothko room at the Tate had a profound influence on me. As I sat there I felt uplifted in the same way as I feel when I stand in a cathedral or at a wide open landscape. I try and bring this into my work. In a way I want my work to give something to the viewer…a sense of calm, or a sense of belonging…sometimes of a dark, warm enveloping.”