BRENNAN O’BRIEN

You, as a train station

29 September - 8 October 2023, CCAS Manuka

Inspired by liminal art and surrealist landscapes, Brennan O'Brien weaves an ethereal tapestry using oil paint and pigment distemper, traversing dreamlike imagery and the inevitable fading of memory. O'Brien draws influence from the liminality of transitional spaces, resulting in a blurring of boundaries between real and imagined. The transitory nature of the work is symbolised by the concept of having without holding - emotions, experiences, people, and places slipping through one’s fingers. You, as a train station is an acceptance of letting things travel through you, acknowledging powerlessness in impeding their journey. Within the paintings, the train station metaphor recurs, symbolising transition and an interplay of stillness and motion. Languid distempered grounds are activated by quicker mark-making, a continual oscillation between chaos and deliberation. O’Brien’s desperation is in seeing his visions through to the end of the line. 

Image: Brennan O'Brien The Swashbuckle 2023, oil, distemper, crayon, charcoal on canvas, 51 x 61cm, photo courtesy of the artist.