Robyn O Doherty is an abstract painter based in Killarney, primarily working with oil and acrylic. Her practice is rooted in the visual dialogue between movement and material. She explores mark-making informed by her lifelong involvement in Irish dancing.

Inspired by the rhythmic nature of the sport, she began thinking about the traces of her steps and the repetition of the movement, translating it into visual sequences that echo the discipline and musicality of the dance. Each step becomes a trace of movement with the rhythm and precision of the dance steps shaping her visual language. In this way, the canvas becomes a kind of floor, exploring the intimate relationship between surface and support.

Her current body of work is based on the group of traditional set dances that are enriched with Irish culture and folklore. Each figure has a prescribed sequence, yet every gathering inflects its own tempo and story. This duality informs her approach to the painting by adding a layer of paint and then taking its away, an analogue to the dance’s steps. As well as carving out the negative spaces left behind. The resulting surface holds traces of the dance and its form.