the artist:
July 13, 2009
Ronan Halpin trained as a sculptor for six years, in the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and at Yale School of Art in the United States of America. There he received an Honours degree, MFA Sculpture, in 1985. He subsequently returned to Ireland and the town of Drogheda where he was born.
He opened a studio in Drogheda and continued to work as a full-time artist for almost eight years, exhibiting widely both at home and abroad.
In 1990 he was selected as one of three sculptors to represent Ireland at a Sculpture Biennial in Budapest.
A four-month trip through Africa in 1995 took his work in a new direction.
"In retrospect I can see how that trip has had a great bearing on my work. The landscape, the people, the culture, the harsh environment and the indigenous art, have all influenced the way my work has changed. The journey I took through Africa is being continued through my work in my explorations of the place I now inhabit."
In 1996 the artist stated:
"I believe that my work has become more accessible recently both in scale and in imagery. Part of this desire for accessibility has driven me to look at other forms of expressing creativity and this has led me to the realms of ornament."
In August 1998 Ronan moved with his wife and family to Achill Island where he had been a regular visitor since childhood. He continues to live on the island and explore his environment through his work. He uses steel, brass and glass in much of his work. Most of his materials have to be transported from Dublin; one of the disadvantages of living in a remote location. He mainly uses oxy/acetylene for welding.
In recent years he has begun to use casting as a process in his work. He now works in Bronze, Concrete and Corten steel.
Ronan’s wife, Amanda, is a painter and together they run a gallery during the summer months where they exhibit their work.
Ronan finds inspiration in Celtic myths, in the landscape and the seascape that surrounds him. His work draws on archaeology and literature and from the wells of life experience.
"I see my work as an amalgam of many traditions and cultures from the primitive of West Africa to the delicate intricacies of the Celts."
Hillary Clinton, Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney and former Taoiseach John Bruton all own pieces of his work. He has had many exhibitions of his sculptures and drawings both nationally and internationally since 1979 .