About the Artist

Kathleen Delaney is an Irish artist living in Adamstown, Co. Wexford.

She graduated from The National College of Art , Dublin (NCAD) in 1988 with a BA honours degree. Prior to this she studied at The Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT), where she received an NCEA honours Diploma in Fine Art, NCEA honours certificates in Visual Studies and Visual Education.

Kathleen has had a number of solo exhibitions in Ireland. She has been in many juried and invited exhibitions. Outside of Ireland her work has been seen in London, Wales, The Scottish Higlands, Krakow, Slovenia and New Orleans.

Her work can be found in the art collections of The Bank of Ireland, Wexford Co. Council, Wexford Hospital Healing Arts Trust and Waterford Hospital Healing Arts Trust. She also has work in private collections in Ireland, Australia and Britian.

Kathleen is a member of the Sculptors'Society of Ireland and the Crafts Council of Ireland.

About The Art of Kathleen Delaney

While in college Kathleen specialised in painting. Her use of colour is bold and vibrant. She likes to build up layers and textures creating rich surface patterns.

Since graduating from NCAD, Kathleen has explored various themes in her work, many of which reoccur; vessels, clothing/textiles, figurative and landscapes.

She works mainly in mixed media and acrylic on board. Some of her works are oil on board. She prefers the hard surface which can be etched into and built upon as opposed to canvas. Her works on paper are mostly in mixed media, some of which are experimental in style using print techniques and collage.

Since 2000 she has began working in textiles. Using sumptuous velvets and mainly natural fabrics - silks, linen, cotton backed satin and cotton. She designs, prints and dyes her own fabrics. Each piece of fabric is unique to a specific work. Some of her textile pieces are more three dimensional, with wire frames underneath areas of the work with forms emerging from the background. She has also begun to allow the fabrics to spill out on the floor, thus acknowledging the nature of the fabric itself.

Her Artist's books and her exotic shoe collection are a combination of her textile and painting skills. Coming from the tradition of fine art and modern Irish painting, her textile work is also in that vein, as opposed to being craft based. Some of her contempoary textile works have a strong celtic feel, especially so in some of the spiral patterns she uses.

Her love Heart series based on the infamous sweets are fun and owe something to Andy Warhol in terms of trail blazing.

For her garden series, she travelled around a number of gardens in Ireland and France. She abstracted the imagery she found in these mainly formal gardens. In her textiles the landscape takes on a diffrent feel with its patterns and luxerious fabrics. It is here that the world of fairytale and myth come to life.

Clothing is something which always features in her work. Having spent many rainy childhood Sunday afternoons dressing up, surrounded by frills, fur and fabrics.

In fact, her interest in fashion and clothing has resulted in her designing and making limited edition and once off handmade scarves. She uses mainly her own hand printed and dyed fabrics. Each scarf is individually crafted including silk, velvet and satin.

Kathleen's beautiful and luxurious work suits and enhances any interior. In the home environment, her work provides a focal point in the interior design.

In the corporate sector, her colourful work is impressive. Her painting lends vibrancy, while her tapestry/wallhangings give a a sense of warmth and sensuousness in a minimal business environment.

Her work from Wexford County Council's public art collection is on permanent view at Hook Lighthouse Visitor's Centre. Click here for more information.

Kathleen has a strong original style which she has developed over the years. She delves deep in her work and is a shaman artist. Whether it is a textile, a painting, a shoe, a print or an artist's book, the power of her work is felt.