I am an artist born and raised in Galway on the west coast of Ireland where I am based, and I hold a BA in Fine Art from ATU Galway.
My visual style is inspired by the rich and diverse world around me, not just physically, but how it affects me psychologically. I incorporate visual elements as inspiration rather than strict guidelines, using them as starting points to craft my own visual narrative. By simplifying the shapes and elements of the landscape, and using bold colours, there is a sense of mystery and ambiguity to my work, drawing viewers into a world of abstraction while captivating the imagination.
I work in acrylics and each painting is a snapshot of a captured memory, or a feeling, and the colours and shapes that these memories or feelings evoke. The painting then develops organically from there, the memories distilled as it develops on my easel.
OXO at Outset Gallery November 2025 to January 2026
Christmas Show at the Kenny Gallery
Clifden Arts Festival Arts Trail, September 2025 Summer Show at the Kenny Gallery.
Connacht Call Out at Oughterard Courthouse.
Two-person exhibition at Anú Art Collective, Barna, Co. Galway
Corrandulla Arts Trail
Ties that Bind, 126 Gallery
Collaboration with Connemara Design House creating a new series of handmade wool and silk wall hangings for their collection. You can view these here.
Commissioned by Galway 2020 to create a painting, used as part of their branding.
Artwork designed for Irish Water Safety.
Artwork created for the Irish Consulate in Chicago.
Artwork created for Galway 2020, European City of Culture.
Arts Council Agility Award 2023
Arts Council Awarded Art Residency, Lyon, France, Summer 2024
Culture Ireland Grant 2019 bringing my solo exhibition Connemara Chroma to WI, USA
GMIT Academic Achievement Award
Interface Inagh
Engage Art Studios
126 Gallery
Visual Artists Ireland Professional Member
The visual harmonies of Joan Finnegan’s paintings stem from the elegantly inter-locking forms that make up their compositions and her judicious sense of colour. She works from specific sources (…) but rather than illustrating her sources, she uses them as points of departure to devise her own pleasing visual constructions.
