To Irish artist Sheila Buckley, painting has been as normal as breathing for as long as she can remember. She grew up spending summers in a creative community in West Cork, and as she puts it, “I’m not sure I ever started art. I think it was simply always there.” As a child, she would draw on everything. Her bedroom walls, her ceiling. Once, she grew an ivy plant across her wall as part of an early art installation, recalling that her mom “did not appreciate her conceptual vision.” Buckley was born in Cork, but she has spent most of her life in London, where she received her Bachelor of Arts with honours and an MFA from Goldsmiths University. Today, she resides in the East Algarve, where she continues developing her artistic practice.
Life through abstraction
Buckley is an abstract painter, and she will use any tool at her disposal, shells, sticks, sponges, to create her art. To her, unorthodox tools keep the process playful and surprising. Pondering on the power of abstraction, she credits one of its strengths as “inviting a person to explore beyond the literal.” When painting, she is pulled into a meditative headspace, and as she describes it, the “hours disappear, and it feels like something larger is working through me. Call it collective energy, creative flow, or simply the universe giving me a nudge.”
The Algarve is a continuous source of inspiration to her with its “pink-dust sunsets and the powerful Atlantic.” Buckley absorbs its energy, sometimes through the waves when she is surfing, and it always finds its way into her work. As she puts it, “We are all influenced by the world around us. My art helps me decipher the complexities of life.” Buckley is inspired by artists such as Joan Mitchell and Lee Krasner, strong women with strong voices. “Their energy, confidence, and freedom spoke to me, and I’ve been chasing that spirit ever since”, she says.
Creative ecosystem
Comparing the art scene in England to the one here in Portugal, she notes that London is a city filled to the brim with creativity, but a huge downside, especially for an artist, is the sky-high rent and studio costs. To Buckley, Portugal feels more grounded and community-driven. She has grown especially fond of the East Algarve, which, in her words, has a beautiful and expanding creative scene.
Buckley recently held her first solo exhibition in República 14, and she has her own creative space, Lagoon Street Studio in Olhão, which she built and renovated herself when she moved to Portugal. This year, she has been a part of Olhão Open Studios, which has opened her eyes to the sea of talented artists based in the Faro region. Her ambition for Lagoon Street Studio to become a shared creative space is one of the many ways Sheila Buckley will continue to shape the Algarve’s creative landscape.
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