Pat Connor

Patrick Connor was born in Dublin in 1948, where he later studied Fine Art at the National College of Art and Design (1964-68). In 1971, he moved to Schull to set up his studio. There he developed and broadened his unique skills in ceramics to establish himself as a seminal sculptural artist.

Known primarily for his expressive figurative ceramic sculpture work, Connor a polymath, is always pushing boundaries as he moves seamlessly between media and methodologies.

He has exhibited extensively in Ireland and aboard; Germany, France, Switzerland Japan, China and the United States (1988-92). In 1978 he represented Ireland at the World Craft Conference in Japan and in 1980 he was among the Irish artists chosen to represent Ireland in the Paris Biennale 1980. 

His work is represented in major public and private collections, including the Arts Council of Ireland, The Crawford Municipal Gallery, The Ulster Museum and The National Museum of Ireland. 

Connor continues to create figurative forms with surfaces that it seems are articulated by the sinuous sensual lines of drawing. His deep understanding of physicality and emotional tension are evident in his work as he addresses the complexities of the human condition.

For him the essence of the artist’s Odyssey lies both in the medium and in the message it conveys. In his sculpture, the figure predominates whether human or animal, while in his painting and printmaking, landscape becomes the stage and backdrop on which the human conundrum may unfold.