a painting practice shaped by memory,

atmosphere and lived experience


01. PRACTICE

Painting memory, atmosphere,
and lived experience

My work grows out of memory, feeling, and the emotional weight of lived experience. Through painting, I try to hold onto what remains beneath the surface of things, whether through figure, atmosphere, or place.

I am interested in colour, texture, restraint, and the way painting can carry presence without needing to explain everything.

02. PAINTING

Colour, texture, and
emotional presence

I work mainly in acrylic, building surfaces through layering, editing, and repeated adjustment. What matters to me is not only what is shown, but how a painting holds feeling through structure, atmosphere, and material presence.

03. THEMES

Memory, stillness, figure,
and place

Across the work, I return to memory, grief, atmosphere, and human presence. Recent paintings have expanded into landscape, where scale, weather, distance, and human trace have become important ways of carrying emotional experience.

04. PROJECTS

Selected works and
current directions

My work includes figurative, abstract, and landscape-based painting, with recent projects exploring how memory and atmosphere can move between these forms. Each body of work develops through research, reflection, and a gradual testing of what needs to remain visible and what can be held back.

Abstract painting with a vivid crimson red sky fading into a dark horizon. Below, a densely textured field of blue-black vertical marks suggests a mass of compressed, unmoving figures.

RELIC OF THE DIVIDED SELF

05. CONTACT

Get in touch

To enquire about available work, exhibitions, please get in touch or explore the portfolio.

New to My Work? 
These short answers offer a deeper introduction to my painting practice, process, and current work.

What themes does Anthony explore in his paintings?

In my paintings I explore memory, atmosphere, grief, emotional presence, and lived experience. Across figurative, abstract, and landscape work, I am interested in how painting can hold what is felt, remembered, and not easily explained.

Read selected essay

What gives the work its distinct texture and depth?

I work through layering, scraping, editing, and repeated adjustment. Surfaces often carry remnants of previous layers, building visual history into the material itself. It's not only the surface quality in the work, but how memory, atmosphere, and emotional weight are carried through paint.

Watch a video of Anthony speaking about his practice

How can I subscribe to the artist's newsletter?

I share new paintings, exhibitions, studio reflections, and selected writing through my mailing list and online platforms. 

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Where can I buy Anthony Carey’s paintings online?

Available works can be viewed through the online shop. Original paintings are shipped from Dublin, Ireland.

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