* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
From Cookstown, Northern Ireland, Kyle Barnes graduated from The University of Ulster, Belfast, in 2010 with a BA Hons degree in Fine and Applied Arts. Since then he has won the Towry prize at the National Open Art Competition, exhibited at the prestigious Pallant House Gallery in Chicester and most recently been awarded the KPMG Young Artist Award at the RUA Belfast.
He is interested in the process of painting, manipulating the material and working to its distinct qualities, while paying heed to differing textures in skin and how this is conveyed through tonal value and the temperature of colour.
He is inspired by our perception of, and our interaction with each other through visual identity. The combination of expression, eye contact, concealment, colour and texture makes for a varied involvement with each of his works.