Roland Keogh
Studio: Elevator building, Parliament St. Liverpool
My influences in art have come from a varied background both professionally and personally.
I grew up in South Africa, France and Ireland as well as the UK. I travelled extensively as cabin crew for British Airways for 10 years experiencing new countries, cultures, exhibitions and people. Both architecture and art training have provided me with my lenses as a means of assimilating, digesting and creating something from this enormous chaotic disparity.
Art has been a counterbalance to my architectural training. The freedom in instinctive and subconscious Art balanced well with the discipline and cerebral nature of architecture. Yet the architectural training on my original architecture degree would very likely be little different to an arts degree, such was the level of creativity needed. My strength always lay in the creative side and hammered into a discipline from what can be described as a renaissance like training of endless possibilities. Artistically, my creative eye has looked inwardly for subject matter touching on both abstract and figurative in a personal take on expressionism, often with a nod to urban landscapes. My work relies on a mixture of the spark from the subconscious in a dialogue with the rationalizing of the conscious eye.
Art has to talk and involve the spectator, without which the art would mean nothing. The art needs to please to both the intellectual and aesthetic senses…. and properly engage the person to respond actively.
It is no use having a painting on the wall if you give up looking at it; The art needs to have the richness to compete with the moving picture of a television screen. What one person sees will be different from the next person as I hope my paintings take the viewer on a journey. My intention is not to totally dictate the form of that journey. Instead I hope to channel tne viewer to connect with their own internal fantasy which will always be much richer than what can be provided by a painting or reality for that matter.
My media tends to be based on Acrylics, for speed of drying . Other recurring medium for texture and depth involve tar and refined plaster.
