Ronan Lane is an Irish-born artist based in the Perth Hills who explores systems of representation in his paintings. Focused on understanding the way that systems leave their traces on our lives, Ronan’s work pays attention to the stories or myths that stay with us in a temporal miasma of cultural memory.
Ronan studied at the Crawford College of Art and Design in Ireland, the Aki in the Netherlands, and the Freie Universität Berlin in Germany before relocating to Australia in 2013. Currently undertaking a PhD in painting at Curtin University, Ronan has learnt to understand his artistic process in a new way, articulating and working thematically to approach issues as a system instead of treating each painting as a singular entity.
“I still see painting as a kind of visual puzzle, but I am trying to open it up more.”
Moving to Australia was a change that Ronan struggled with at first, but now he cannot imagine being anywhere else. From the spectacular environment, space, and quality of light in the Perth hills, to the vibrant arts scene and experienced community, Ronan has found a place where he is able to give and receive support from artists and curators alike.
“We’re very lucky to be here and to able to have that critical time and space to develop work.”
Drawing is a fundamental, yet sometimes hidden part of Ronan’s process. Always having a sketchbook or two on the go, Ronan uses drawing as the basis to work from when starting a painting. Working back and forth between drawing and painting, the qualities of line in a sketch contrasting with each brushstroke, Ronan notes that there is a fundamental shift in the image as it is transformed from page to canvas.
“Sometimes there’s a vitality, or a sense of energy that changes when its translated over to another medium.”
Before stepping into his now refined and abstract style, Ronan worked in hyper-realism. Obsessed with pen and brush control, Ronan documented with his camera and aimed to capture these photographic moments in his work.
“I remember examining the brushwork of pieces I admired, being so close that I was smelling the painting.”
Stepping back, Ronan realised these intricacies didn’t matter when the image reemerged. It was then that he understood the abstract image could communicate something more than appearance and stepped away from realism.
Speaking on his vibrant giclée prints stocked in Store, Ronan described them as scenes; a snapshot that captures memories and senses as well as place. From bustling cityscapes in Perth, Berlin, and Porto, to rural expanses such as the hilltops in Kerry or the shifting light on the Nullarbor, each scene reworks fragments of experiences. These pieces reflect not only how the place looked, but the everyday occurrences and simple beauties remembered differently: the movement of wind along the riverbank or startling beams of light. Each of these scenes were drawn and redrawn again, time seeming to stretch out as the pieces were refined.
“There was a quality in them that was different from other pieces of mine, a clarity that I felt would work well as a print.”
Ronan noted that these pieces have a different focus to his oil paintings, being more loose, free, and poetic, exploring place, myth, and what remains. Acting as a type of memory that the viewer gets to sit with, building a layer of memory, experience, and understanding of their own, Ronan hopes that the experience of his artwork is a type of journey, a daily revelation.
Portrait supplied by artist
Images courtesy of Josh Wells