Lisa O'Donnell graduated from GMIT in Galway in 2010 with a first class honours degree in Fine Art. She graduated top of her class and was awarded Paint student of the year and the National University of Ireland Galway purchased her work for their permanent collection. In 2009 she was selected to exhibit at the Galway Arts Centre, in the exhibition Ealaíon At Lunasa, showcasing a selection of talented artists based in Galway. She currently lives and works in Galway city.
Her work explores ideas of balance and juxtaposition in regards to the composition, colour, medium and the abstract and figurative elements within it. Lisa often uses seemingly random imagery as a way of searching for this balance and is influenced by everyday life, where we are constantly bombarded by imagery, which makes it difficult to decipher what you really want, and what you are really interested in. Lisa works in this way predominantly with painting and the combination of different media and materials is an important facet in her work.
This collection of paintings depict a number of different rudiments such as dazed figures plucked from mass media and random clips from newspapers, as well as other arbitrary imagery of recognizable elements such as furniture, rooms and dwellings. The figure/ground relationship is important as the scenes which emerge have recognizable elements from everyday life somewhat abstracted into a strange and unreal space, reflecting a certain place hovering between some form of reality and a fantasy land. Many of these works touch on a kind of retro style and imagery that reflects how people look to the past for what influences their future.
