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Residency 4/9/24 - 6/10/24

Blaine O’Donnell is an artist working primarily in sculpture.

Taking an experimental approach to the materials and debris of photography, architecture and geology, he investigates the art object as a starting point for tracing networks of relationships between objects, humans and places. Contrasting materials are used in new ways, making space for material agency and chance.

In a time of increasing dematerialisation and alienation from natural rhythms and shared ecosystems, O'Donnell explores artistic practice as a method of engendering moments of connection and affinity, revelation and wonder.

Blaine O'Donnell, Installation view, hinder / further, The Complex, Dublin, 2022. Untitled (Panel 1), 183cm x 122cm x 3.5cm, acrylic co-polymer, barium sulphate, basalt, eggshell (Gallus domesticus), granite sand, gravel, limewash, mortar sand, oyster shell (Crassostrea angulata), perlite, plasticiser, recycled glass, shingle (from various unidentified species), steel, talc, water, white Portland cement, 2022 (Photo credit: Kate Bowe O'Brien)
Blaine O'Donnell, Installation view, hinder / further, The Complex, Dublin, 2022.

Untitled (Panel 1), 183cm x 122cm x 3.5cm, acrylic co-polymer, barium sulphate, basalt, eggshell (Gallus domesticus), granite sand, gravel, limewash, mortar sand, oyster shell (Crassostrea angulata), perlite, plasticiser, recycled glass, shingle (from various unidentified species), steel, talc, water, white Portland cement, 2022

(Photo credit: Kate Bowe O'Brien)
Blaine O'Donnell, Installation view, hinder / further, The Complex, Dublin, 2022. left: Untitled (Panel 2), 183cm x 122cm x 3.5cm, acrylic co-polymer, barium sulphate, basalt, eggshell (Gallus domesticus), granite sand, gravel, limewash, mortar sand, oyster shell (Crassostrea angulata), perlite, plasticiser, recycled glass, shingle (from various unidentified species), steel, talc, water, white Portland cement, 2022 right: Untitled (Screen) 2022 (Photo credit: Kate Bowe O'Brien)
Blaine O'Donnell, Installation view, hinder / further, The Complex, Dublin, 2022.

left: Untitled (Panel 2), 183cm x 122cm x 3.5cm, acrylic co-polymer, barium sulphate, basalt, eggshell (Gallus domesticus), granite sand, gravel, limewash, mortar sand, oyster shell (Crassostrea angulata), perlite, plasticiser, recycled glass, shingle (from various unidentified species), steel, talc, water, white Portland cement, 2022 right: Untitled (Screen) 2022

(Photo credit: Kate Bowe O'Brien)
Blaine O'Donnell, Installation view, hinder / further, The Complex, Dublin, 2022. Untitled (Screen), 26cm x 46 x 1cm, computer monitor components, C-prints, power cable, 2022 (Photo credit: Kate Bowe O'Brien)
Blaine O'Donnell, Installation view, hinder / further, The Complex, Dublin, 2022.

Untitled (Screen), 26cm x 46 x 1cm, computer monitor components, C-prints, power cable, 2022

(Photo credit: Kate Bowe O'Brien)

Blaine O'Donnell received the 2019 Emerging Irish Artist Residency Award at the Burren College of Art, followed by the group exhibitions CAOL ÁIT, Burren College of Art, Clare (2019) and CAOL ÁIT Cuid a Dó, 126 Gallery, Galway, Ireland (2020).

In 2021, he created a permanent sculptural installation at VOID, Derry, Northern Ireland, for Office of the Rest, a Forerunner project commissioned by Mary Cremin. O'Donnell's essay Things to Do With Photographs was shortlisted for the Source Magazine Writers Prize 2021.

Recent exhibitions include hinder/further with Andreas Kindler von Knobloch at The Complex, Dublin (2022), curated by Mark O'Gorman, With Other Matter, curated by Naomi Draper at Roscommon Arts Centre (2022) and Displacement and Belonging, RuaRed, Tallaght, Ireland (2023).

Residencies include the Temple Bar Gallery +Studios / Helsinki International Artist Programme Residency Exchange (2023), the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico (2024), and Fire Station Artists' Studios Residency, Dublin (2024/5).

Current Residencies