THE ENERGY OF LIGHT · 2026
Solstice, Sagg Main II
Roisin Bateman
PRICE
$3,400
Pastel on Paper
MEDIUM
22 in. x 18 in.
SIZE
2024
YEAR
In these pastels, I explore the metamorphic effects of weather upon the land, sea and sky. It is an exploration of how color changes – how it manifests and dissipates as elements meet and cross. I use layers of pastel to create veils of atmosphere. Much of my inspiration comes from daily walks along the shores of the east end of Long Island, where I currently live and work.
I grew up in the wild and magical landscape of the west coast of Ireland, and the qualities of that world lives within me as inner landscape. Here, the landscape is of a very different quality. Its texture is much more light-reflective – large expanses of sandy shore and flat farmland.
The juxtaposition of these two environments creates a tension and a balancing of forces, which provide a very rich soil from which to create new form and expression.
About the Work
Roisin Bateman began her life and her art in the west of Ireland. After receiving her BFA from Belfast College of Art in Northern Ireland in 1986, she moved to the USA. Since then, she has lived in Sag Harbor on the South Fork of Long Island. Bateman is not a “landscape artist” in the traditional sense. But her observation of nature’s laws of metamorphosis informs her work.
In her work, she explores the metamorphic effects of weather upon the landscape. It is an exploration of how color changes – how it manifests and dissipates as elements meet and cross. In the large paintings and pastels, she uses layers of thinned oil paint or pastel to create veils of atmosphere. In recent works on paper, she uses wax and layers of fine pigment to play with the presence and absence of color. Oil, wax and pastel seem like the perfect media to explore such an ephemeral subject.
Bateman’s paintings, pastels, and site-specific works have been shown throughout the US and Ireland, including, Sara Nightingale Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY, The Church, Sag Harbor, NY, WACH Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY, Sylvester Manor, Shelter Island, NY, Heckscher Museum, Huntington, NY; Leiber Museum, East Hampton, NY, and the Linenhall Gallery in Castlebar, Ireland.
Residencies include the Vermont Studio Center, and The Church in Sag Harbor, NY.
Bateman will be the December presenter for “Insight Sunday” at the Church in Sag Harbor, NY.