Where the Mountains of Mourne Sweep Down to the Sea, (2024)

Encaustic on wood panel
41 x 31 x 3 cm
Materials: beeswax, damar resin, pigment

After years living away from Northern Ireland, I have found myself drawn back to the landscapes of my youth. Returning home has sharpened my appreciation for the colours that surround us, the intense blues of the sea, the luminous greens of the Mournes, and the fluorescent pinks that punctuate our fields and coastlines.

Working in encaustic allows me to engage physically with the surface. Layers of beeswax, damar resin and pigment are built up, fused, and carved back. The medium is tactile and sculptural; details such as the lamp posts are scratched and shaped directly into the wax with my thumbnail, allowing the landscape to emerge through touch as much as observation.