Tomás Ó Cíobháin

Tomás Ó Cíobháin was born in An Ghráig, Baile’n Fheirtéaraigh, Co. Kerry. Known primarily as an etcher, Ó Cíobháin is also a typographical and historical painter of considerable skill and deftness. His signature pieces are seen from aerial perspective, over-looking West Kerry.

The Kerry which inspires Ó Cíobháin is the Kerry of “language, song, story and personality, the talk of the land, this intense interest in the fertile or barren characteristics of fields, the wetness and dryness of land.” He listens to the “talk of the land”, gaining insight into why generations before him fought for land and bog. Ó Cíobháin says that his “work predates my own personal feelings. They are always ahead of my epiphany. The work leads me to a place.”

Ó Cíobháin’s work is refreshing. It is exciting in method, composition and perspective and his depiction of Kerry is one where “realism is extended by imagination”.