Sinéad ni Chionaola

About the Artist

Sinéad Ni Chionaola is a visual artist based in East Cork, Ireland. She holds an Honours Diploma in Art & Design from the National College of Art & Design (1998), a Foundation in Art Therapy Certificate (1997), and Distinction NDFA Painting/printmaking (1990) from Crawford College of Art & Design and a Certificate in Visual Education from Waterford Institute of Technology (1987).
Her work forms part of the OPW collection Ireland and in private collections in Ireland, Europe, Switzerland, and America,
Solo shows Lismore, Co. Waterford (2005), The Private Collector Gallery, Fredrick St, Dublin (2003) and The Old Market House Arts Centre, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford (2003).
Two-person show, at The Old Market House Arts Centre (2019). And Touring exhibition Explorations, Gothenburg Irish Arts Festival, Sweden (1997), Adelaide Fringe Festival, Australia (1996), National Touring Exhibition, Ireland – various venues (1995).
Group shows (2021) West Cork Creates, Home ground The Courthouse Gallery, Co Clare, The Pigs Back Café, Cork. 6th Annual Artist’s Choice Art Exhibition, (fusionartps.com) https://www.theholyart.com/nostalgia-room-3 April 4th -12 LightSpaceTime.Art (2020), 3rd Women Artists Art Exhibition, (fusionartps.com) 2020, Contemporary Art Gallery Online Exhibitions “10th Anniversary”, (2020), The Doorway Gallery, Dublin (2019), The Half-Light gallery and co-operative, Co. Cork (2019), The Lavit Gallery members exhibition (2019) The Joan Clancy-Gallery, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford (2019). Culture Night at the Greywood Arts Centre, Killeagh, Co. Cork.(2019).
Awards LEO, TOV, 2021, The Arts Council (1994, 1995, 2000) Foras na Gaeilge (2007),
Residencies Heinrich Boll Cottage, Achill Island, Ireland, (2004), Cill Rialaigh, Co. Kerry (2001, 2002, 2003), The Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Ireland (1995, 1999, 2001, 2002). The Banff Centre of Excellence for the Arts, Canada (2000). The VCCA, USA (1995),
Media TG4 (2003, 2019) and RTE (2007). Newspaper interviews and reviews include The Irish Times, The Independent, The Sunday Tribune, and Irish Examiner.

Artist Statement

Artist statement: 2022
Sinead Ní Chionaola has evolved into an artist who is able to visually communicate transformative states of being. All aspects of humanity and all aspects of divinity are revealed on her canvas.
Her work is a spiritual experience both in the creation for the artist and in the moment of viewing for the viewer….one soul communicating with another.
The paintings of Sinead Ni Chionaola are the products of intense and intimate conversations with the language of space, color, and gesture. An exuberant and impassioned artist, Sinéad is consumed with the curious struggle of shaping an image from the landscape/ figure and injecting it with her imagination. Her use of tonally contrasting color combined with vigorous brushwork imbues Sinead’s paintings with a complex emotional presence. While her paintings are based in the landscape they are intimately about the act, the process of painting, and perhaps how that reflects the process of living.

My purpose is the process.
I enter my painting to portray that which is far beyond words. My hope is to offer a glimpse beneath the surface into the journey of the infinite.
My mindful approach to art and my life, allows me to slow down and to catch the moment. Painting pictures of my children from holiday snaps reawakens the feelings of joy and delight experienced there. There is room for me to get in touch with my own inner child. I love to see how express this in my paintings in a figurative, emotive, and evocative way.

“Quiet the mind and the soul will speak” – Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati.

What are your “Treasured moments” & how do you connect it to your work?

My treasured moments are painting, traveling, and spending time with my children. This painting captures all of this as we were on holiday in Spain swimming in the pool. I wanted to capture the moment of my daughter resting in the pool a second later she is splashing about again. I wanted to portray the contrast of ease and tension at that moment. My role as the mother seeing the nostalgia in the moment and as the artist wanting to paint that memory.

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