Lucy O’Donovan

As a child, O’Donovan began drawing and using watercolor while holidaying in Pembrokeshire, Wales. She used to paint wildlife and landscapes and it was an avid passion of hers right into adulthood. It was then that she discovered oil paint with its rich color and texture; she found it to be the perfect medium. The thick sculptural aspect of the paint allowed her to work in a three-dimensional form which she found more expressive. The shape, color and quality of flesh are something that she constantly tries to attain.  It is always a battle to manage the color and texture of the oil, a balance of which she feels is never quite achieved. O’Donovan tends to paint people who are involved in her life, as an emotional attachment often drives and influences her work. She claims that painting is a fairly self-obsessed process: often painting in order to work through her own issues and those relating to the subject.

Her painting in the present day is driven by a fascination with the human body and the feelings that this invokes.  For her, it is important to portray the body in as honest a way as she can, irrespective of whether it would be considered classically beautiful or not.  She is aware that the motivation behind this is probably a kickback against the social pressures of achieving the perfect figure. She believes this can be seen in her work both in technique and the emotion that it produces.