Age Action

Age Action, 3 St Francis St, Galway, H91 XF1P

Window Display by Robert Downey.

Robert Downey

Robert Downey is a contemporary artist working in the field of painting and photography. His work deal with issues of cultural identity, identity politics and social commentary. He currently runs a studio practice based out of EASI studios in Ennis Co Clare.

“Something Bitter…”

This series is a celebration and depiction of all the negative emotions that built up within me as a direct consequence of lockdowns. I’ve focused on a range of negative emotions and fears such as depression, jealousy, bitterness, failure, isolation etc. These are not qualities that we associate with productivity or generally admirable traits that we admit openly about to others. Instead of ignoring these feelings within me, I have used them to my advantage to produce work and process these emotions by poking fun at them and ridiculing the situations I found myself in.

By projecting these internal feelings into a physical space, it is easier to process and dispel them as they don’t hold up to critical thinking regardless of how relevant they feel. As these works deal with sensitive personal issues, they are constructed using my own visual language and symbolism. The images depicted are metaphorical scenes formed from abstract strands of thoughts and emotions created through a process of collage and word association.