Kieran Rook

Kieran Rook specialises in painting, sculpture, film, and sound art. Working with immersive installations that involve wall-based works, floor pieces, sculptures, screens, and sounds. Creating alchemy by combining various sculptural installation aesthetics with time-based mediums and sound art compositions to create exaggerated and complex artworks.

Recently, Rook’s focus has shifted towards painting and sculpture mediums, evolving from a foundation of exaggerated and disorienting narratives cultivated from a deep fascination with the intricacies of human desire and how they intersect with symbolism. He explores themes of culture, consumerism, artifice, and subversion within the collective lived experience. Rook incorporates hybrid figures that inhabit surreal landscapes to explore themes of desire, identity, and the complex relationship between individuals and symbols. His artworks are characterized by a vibrant and surreal aesthetic, where he juxtaposes familiar and often nostalgic symbols to create new subverted hybrid narratives. To arrive at these compositions, the paintings go through multiple stages, from initial often arbitrary abstract marks loosely sketched in charcoal to underpainting to grisaille/monochrome layers, to multiple glazing layers. Rook's specific style of painting with oil paint harks back to the old Dutch method with a twist.

Links:

Instagram: @kieranrookk