Phil Irish

Phil Irish, from Elora, Ontario, makes paintings that are both fierce and beautiful. His practice extends painting into realms of collage, installation, and lens-based practices.

His work has been shown at public museums, artist-run-centres, and commercial galleries across Canada. The Kolaj Institute, in New Orleans, featured his architecturally scaled installation “The Green Fuse”. His work was featured at the Quebec City Biennial, and three times shortlisted for the Kingston Portrait Prize. 

The ecological crisis, and nature's wisdom, have been sustaining themes in his work. He is a painter who has been energized by collage processes, across a range of media, for more than a decade. It is powerful to cut apart images that have been crafted with care. Fragile recombinations generate surprising insights. The works engage viewers with processes of care, skill, loss, sacrifice, and imaginative regeneration.

Travel and artist residencies have played an important role in developing his themes. To research arctic themes, he visited Baffin Island (CanadaC3), and Svalbard (The Arctic Circle residency).

As for Halls Island, he is interested to see what will come of this time set apart in a more familiar landscape, full of resonance and connection. Anna Mark, a poet and Irish’s life partner, is also devoting the time to creative work. Her recent work has been published by the Literary Review of Canada, CV2, Pinhole Poetry, and the Spadina Literary Review. It will be a unique opportunity for their creative pursuits to overlap and open new possibilities.

Irish holds degrees from York (MFA) and Guelph (BA) and is associate professor of art at Redeemer University in Ancaster, Ontario.

Website: www.philirish.art

Instagram: @phil.irish_artist

TikTok: @phil.irish_artist

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phil.irish.art/