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In this two day masterclass, participants will learn ways in which to get the most out of working from a live model. Using oils on canvas in an alla-prima or wet-on-wet technique, participants will learn ways in which to manipulate the properties of the paint to sculpt the figure. A focus will be on observation and abstraction of form into light, shade, and colour. This class will be interesting to those who wish to work with the full figure or portraiture, and is open to all abilities.
Artist Statement:
Sian Costello uses performative self-portraiture, drawing, and the camera obscura, to re-examine the hidden role of patience in the history of portraiture and figure painting. Her work reevaluates the largely uncredited position which the artist’s model has played in the history of art, the depiction of women in the western figurative tradition, and the wider ubiquity of the trivialisation of feminine-perceived labour.
Artist Bio:
Sian Costello (b. 1998) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Limerick City, Ireland. Since graduating from Fine Art Painting in Limerick School of Art and Design in 2020, Costello has exhibited nationally and internationally, most recently with her solo show Baby Obey Me at Modern Animals, Zurich, and the group show girls, girls, girls at Lismore Castle Arts, curated by Simone Rocha. She has been the recipient of the individual bursary award from the Arts Council of Ireland and project funding from Culture Ireland. Her work has been profiled in The Guardian, The Art Newspaper, British Vogue, Another Magazine, The Visual Artist’s Newsletter, and The Irish Arts Review. She is currently preparing work for two solo shows at Paragon Studios at PS2, Belfast, and at Ormston House, Limerick.
Image credit: Sian Costello, Hussey de Burgh, 2024, Oil on Canvas, 50x60cm, © Sian Costello.
