Artists | C4C Arts

Ndabuko Ntuli

Face of Liberty, Ndabuko Ntuli, 96.5cm x 131.7cm, mixed medium

Tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Ndabuko Ntuli, I reside in Johannesburg but originally from the Kwa Zulu Natal , East Coast of South Africa in a village called Nkandla. I am not only an artist but I’m also a practicing traditional healer and a traditional musician with 5 albums behind my name.

How would you describe your style and work, and how has it evolved?

My style of work is very original and ethnic, it has 3D layers and layers beneath it, and what makes my work different is because I use trash, like bottle caps, bones and plastic materials – literally anything I can from the streets that I feel like would be useful. I also describe my work as modern and contemporary, using a combination of materials over a tempered canvas surface and trash as a medium of expression showing how my work has evolved not only for me but for the industry as well.

What ideas do you express or use in your art?

As a traditional healer, I use throwing bones as my main divination medium, meaning I don’t only do pretty faces and famous influential people but I find myself telling stories and predicting, my work also varies from political views, spiritual and even general issues occurring in that specific time.

What are your influences in creating your artwork?

I am a self taught artist which means I never received any formal art training whatsoever, therefore giving me the platform to never limit myself, in fact I break all the rules and boundaries, which makes my work edgy and unique. I am a dedicated artist with a well advanced attention span and drive to achieve the highest possible standards of production.

What have you been currently working on?
I am currently producing for 2017. I am working on my 10th sculpture and a new gallery as well, expect the unexpected!

What’s your favourite piece?

I consider all my work as my favourites because I work hard but the Desmond Tutu piece is quite close to my heart.

You can see Ndabuko Ntuli’s art below (click to enlargen):

The Icon, Ndabuko Ntuli, 111.5cm x 94.5cm, mixed medium

Face of Liberty, Ndabuko Ntuli, 96.5cm x 131.7cm, mixed medium

Singing Bones, Ndabuko Ntuli, 62cm x 68cm, mixed medium

Red Face 1, Ndabuko Ntuli, 98cm x 105cm, mixed medium

Nguni Cattle, Ndabuko Ntuli, mixed medium

Isizikithi sabaphansi, Ndabuko Ntuli, 96.5cm x131.7cm, mixed medium

Blue Eyes, Ndabuko Ntuli, 97cm x 94cm, mixed medium

#ArtHasNoBorders

Marc Guinan

Email: marcguinan@gmail.com

Who are you and what type of work do you do?

I am an artist from Dublin, Ireland. I am a visual artist interested in expanded painting and materiality and questioning traditional ideas around display within the gallery space.

What’s your background?

I loved art as a child but due to personal circumstances I did not find on my path in life till I was
35. I served my time as a teenager working in bakeries. I also have a 14-year construction background. I lost my job in 2009 due to the recession and was introduced to art whilst participating in an adult education program. This started my journey and with lots of encouragement from friends and family I have pursued this avenue and my practice has now become my life and passion. My exposure within my Fine Arts degree has enhanced this further and indeed my appetite for art making.

What art do you most identify with?

Abstraction and Minimalism and I love the artist’s Barnett Newman and Donald Judd.

What work do you most enjoy doing?

My passion is abstraction and minimalism. I’m currently interested in materiality and process based work. I like to present a set of circumstances and allow an element of unpredictability to influence the final outcomes within my practice. Current themes and motifs that run through my practice can be summarized as follows: tradition through acknowledgment, colour investigation, suggestion, mystery, silence, events captured within materiality, patience, layering, unpredictability, interaction, calmness, repetition, de-stress, folding, envelop, satire, confidence, draping and collapse.

Which of your artwork pieces says the most about you?

My painted forms of 2015 give a good idea of where I am at within my practice.

What is your dream project?

I would like to create much larger pieces and expose my work to larger audiences. My painted forms are beautifully still and autonomous and need to be experienced rather than viewed.

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Frank O’Dea

Email: odea.frank@gmail.com

Balla Bán Art Gallery

Balla Ban Art Gallery is based Dublin City where a selection of Frank’s artworks can be seen. His art is also on permanent display at Il Fico Italian Restaurant, Chatham Street. Dublin 2.

The View and the Vino, oil on canvas

Who are you and what type of work do you do?

I’m a painter and art gallery owner – my gallery, Balla Bán Art Gallery (which is the Irish for “white wall”) is a small boutique art gallery based in Dublin city centre and apart from my own artworks, I sell art from both emerging and well established contemporary Irish artists.

What’s your background?

I have been painting for the past 15 years and while I did not attend formal art college I have been regularly going to evening art classes as well as self taught. My art gallery is now five years old and it is building up a loyal base of art collectors and followers both from the domestic and over seas market.

What art do you most identify with?

The art I most identify with is by artists such as Scottish/Italian artist Jack Vettriano, Belfast artist, Roy Wallace, Graham Knuttel, and stylised figurative paintings that convey a story and/or humour encounters.

What work do you most enjoy doing?

Lately I have enjoyed painting lunar landscapes as well as Mars using palette knife and thicker paint to create the surface.

Which of your art work pieces says the most about you?

Perhaps my colour oil paintings of cafe/bar social scenes or musicians would be the answer to this question. I do love people watching and the interactions that go on in this environment. As a musician myself (piano/guitar) I also love to paint musicians having played in piano restaurants around Dublin for many years.

Which of your art work pieces says the most about you?

My dream project seems to be constantly [changing] as I get new inspirations and ideas but I would like to put on an exhibition that features my upcycled artworks – old/broken/disused mannequins that I have painted in abstract designs along with old/broken musical instruments and to showcase at a music or entertainment venue. I call the upcycled mannequin art my “Shady Ladies” and “Shady Men” and I think they are very eye catching and humourous.

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Ray Tsang

Website: raytsang.com

Email: info@raytsang.com

‘Orna’, Oil on canvas.

What made you want to become an Artist?

I wanted to spend my time doing something I enjoy.

What’s your background?

I studied painting at Crawford college of art and design, after college I continued to learn from books and videos. I became a professional artist in 2012.

What work do you most enjoy doing?

I prefer to do narrative work with figures.

What inspires you?

Mostly I am inspired by works painted by artists that I admire.

What is your dream project?

I would like to illustrate some book covers in the future.

View Ray Tsang’s gallery below.

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Alexandra Gallagher

Website: alexandragallagherart.com

Email: alexandragallagher@sky.com

Untitled

Untitled, digital media.

What made you want to become an Artist?

I don’t think there was anything that made me want to become an artist; it’s just what I’ve always done. I have to create. I’m quite hard to live with when I don’t do something creative, it’s part of who I am. I know that sounds like a cliché, but it’s true.

What’s your background?

I started out painting portraits and felt that was my thing for a while, but I wanted to experiment more, challenge myself. I felt my work wasn’t progressing the way I wanted it to. Thats when I started in a whole new direction. I still paint portraits on request, as I love doing them, but I also love the journey I’m on with my more conceptual work. It’s exciting and I love learning new things.

What work do you most enjoy doing?

I love finding new ways of creating work. I’m always looking for something new to try, but my two joys have always been oil painting and collage. They require different disciplines and I like the contrast between them.

What inspires you?

That’s a tricky one to answer, because in a way, as an artist everything inspires me. I spend a lot of time absorbing as much art as possible. I find other artists both intimidating yet greatly inspiring. There is so much amazing work out there! I absolutely love Benjamin Cohen’s work at the moment. His early work and more recent work all appeal to me. It’s his use of the paint – his brush strokes – the movement, colour, composition.

What’s your favourite piece?

Wow! That’s a hard one to answer! Hmm… maybe “Back Street Play” because it was the start of a whole new direction in my work.

What is your dream project?

I’d love a project with a single strong, core concept, to be shown in a unique event space, and I get to experiment with different media. A bit of painting, mixed media, digital, sculpture, to fit the space the work would be exhibited in.

Pieces are available priced £36.00 – £200.00.

View Alexandra Gallagher’s Gallery:

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