About

               
 
Amira McDonagh is an Irish Artist. Although born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, much of her work is influenced by County Down where she has lived and worked for much of her life. Amira is a graduate of Cardiff School of Art, undertaking an undergraduate BA(Hons) degree in Fine Art, specialising in painting, which she completed in 2011.


Traditionally an oil painter of large abstract landscape works on board, Amira has exhibited and sold her work from 2008, but was always asked if she had any smaller works for purchase.

This was the driving force behind the creation of Amira Paints and its launch in May 2021, and making affordable prints of recognisable places more accessible.

Amira wanted to help break down barriers that were traditionally found in museums and galleries, where people were too intimidated to talk about art or express an interest in it. By injecting her colourful take on familiar places and landscapes, she hopes that people won't be shy in expressing an affection for art and that her works will spark conversations as well as joy.

 


Artist Statement

I am an oil painter first and foremost. However, as a visual artist, I make drawings, prints and photographic images in addition to paintings. Influenced by the Fauvism movement, I use bold vibrant colours in a flat way to explore both my physical landscape as well as the ever changing emotional one as I delve into my family history and past events. I am inspired by my immediate surroundings along with recurring memories of places. After many years of not knowing how to use my practice as a way to document my personal experiences, I am now confidently taking my viewer through painted abstract narratives, hoping to draw them into a quiet moment of reflection inside each work.

Currently, my artistic practice centres around catharsis. Transitioning from full time carer to bereaved daughter, I have been exploring aspects of my identity and background as a way of channeling my grief and related emotions. My practice now intensely focuses on my identity and family heritage, remembered memories, and experienced trauma.
Using my practice as a cathartic release is a thread that I have been subconsciously building in my work since 2021 and the exhibition of my painting ‘Nightingale 2020’ at the 140th Royal Ulster Academy annual exhibition.