Philip Cullen
The residency in the Watergate was a very positive experience. I was given the freedom to explore an agreed theme and to express my thoughts and feelings without restriction. The staff were helpful, creative and supportive from beginning to end. A TV was purchased specially so that I could show my short films as part of the exhibition and I was helped as much with the installation as I wanted. The director helped organise and facilitate three public presentations in the gallery at my request so that members of the local community could interact more meaningfully with the work and the artist. Thumbs up.
About PhilIp Cullen
Philip Cullen studied art in WIT and the Crawford College of Art and Design. He graduated in Fine Art, specialising in sculpture, in the early nineties.
After college he worked in an antiquarian bookshop in Cork, wrote a satirical novel which failed to impress any publisher, painted watercolours and continued learning the guitar.
In 1995 he left Ireland for Australia and travelled there for almost two years. He worked as a cook, farmhand, bulk wheat handler, house painter, market researcher and finally in financial desperation as a busker in Darwin.
Upon his return to Ireland in 1997 he set up a studio and home on the family farm he grew up on. He became a developmental community artist and has worked in the participatory arts field since then.
He has taken part in national arts festivals, exhibited in Ireland, Luxembourg and Belgium, and been commissioned by public and private bodies. He is a prolific artist and enjoys working in a variety of media including stone, paint, film, sound and metal.
As well as working with patients in the Renal Unit (Waterford Healing Arts Trust) he has developed an art therapy practice after qualifying in Art therapy (MA) from the Crawford College of Art and Design. He is a facilitator of the Red Lead film-making group in Waterford. Red Lead started as a drama group for men with Acquired Brain Injury in 2014. Philip has directed the group since then supporting the men to produce nine films.
During the pandemic he painted hundreds of abstract, colourful acrylics, and created sculptures in resin, found materials, wood and metal. He also worked on a series of short films for the Watergate Theatre website entitled Time. He lives in Kilkenny county with his wife and three pets.
Time by Philip Cullen
A multi-media response to the Pandemic years, built on the twin pillars of the commission from the Watergate Time and the work I was doing at home all through the 2019-2022 period.