Mark Kang O'Higgins
Artist’s Statement
Each of the paintings here are based on the landscapes of the pacific northwest and Ireland. The painting Elwa is of the mouth of the Elwa as it leads into the ocean. The piece Páirc Tráthnóna is based on memories from Ireland and Irish landscapes and Cladach, The Shore is based on a northwest landscape but with its light and atmosphere reminded me of Irish lakes. As an immigrant I am very much inspired by the layers of history that permeate every landscape and I am grateful to walk and interact with nature in these lands that have been tended to since time immemorial by native people.
Biography
Mark is an Irish artist and educator based in Seattle, WA with over twenty years of experience in fine art exhibitions, university education, and environmental research. His work is an integration of classical observational practice with contemporary conceptual training. He is a member of faculty at the Gage Academy of Art, Digipen Institute of Technology, and the Wilderness Awareness School in Washington state.
Mark is a working studio artist. He has an active fine art career with multiple gallery exhibitions and work in private and museum collections locally and internationally. Locally, Mark’s current and recent shows where his work is on display, include the Nordic Heritage Museum, the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, the Bellevue Museum of Art, and the Seattle Convention Center.Influences
I am looking for the eternal in the fleeting, for what is common to us all even though we are individuals. In the monumental and the mundane, there is a commonality of experience that speaks of a deeper meaning, even if that escapes us. When I paint, my aim is to show the universal in each place or person, whether that is an aspect of their personality, the emotions that they are experiencing, or the situation that they are in. In this way, I hope the images strike a chord with others so that the viewer can see something of us all in each piece.
My work as an artist, has in many ways, been a form of existential inquiry itself. I started my professional career working in political and environmental education because I had a need to understand the world. I became an artist to understand the world and myself. I paint oil portraits because they help me understand other people.
My work as an educator and artist is now helping me understand my identity and my relationship to other people, and place in, the natural world. My current art work explores and represents people, through figurative and portrait work and explores the natural world through landscapes.Website
Showing all 3 artworks
Mark Kang O'Higgins
An Cladach: THE SHORE
48 x 60 ″ Oil on canvas $10,250.00
Mark Kang O'Higgins
Sruth Tralüthno Lüna Evening Current
48 x 24 ″ oil on panel - Framed $4,200.00