Martina Furlong

Biography

BIOGRAPHY Martina Furlong was born in Co.Wexford, Ireland in 1974, moved to London in 1999 and returned to live in Ireland in April 2015. She received a BA (Hons) in Fine Art Painting from Limerick School of Art and Design in 1996. She has had solo and group exhibitions in America, London and Ireland and her work is in private collections across the world. STATEMENT I paint colourful, textured landscapes and abstracts in oils and acrylics. My paintings are inspired by the beauty, ruggedness and magical quality of the Irish landscape as well as many other intriguing things I encounter every day. In my work I like to mix reality with memories and imagination and paint my own interpretation of it. I exaggerate colour, apply layer upon layer of paint, then work back into the surface with various tools as well as pallet knives and brushes to create sensuous works of art with a wonderful tactile quality. I am currently working on a series of paintings inspired by The Irish National Heritage Park in Wexford, that allows me to combine my landscape and abstract work. They are semi abstract paintings combining the lines and shapes of the ring forts, stone circle and megalithic tombs with the organic lines and shapes of the natural forestry and wet woodlands. I have also incorporated stitching/sewing into my work for the first time. It is still at an experimental stage but I have completed four of these pieces for the Heritage series and feel that it may lead to a new series of work in the near future. Website:www.martinafurlong.com