Members & Friends Exhibition 2026: Meet the Artist - Roger Horgan

Introduction

Roger Horgan is another artist featured for this years exhibition, with a surreal acrylic on canvas painting titled "West Cork Imagined #1". Here, Roger gives us a deep insight into his methodology.

Interview with Roger Horgan

1. What inspired your submission for this year's "Members and Friends" Exhibition, and were there any particular people, places, experiences or events that influenced it?

The landscape of West Cork is a huge inspiration for me and it has grown more so since I took up kayaking.  The view of the land from the sea in a boat which is so low in the water gives a different perspective which energizes my brain.

2. What led you to choose the medium used for your work? How did it help you express your ideas?

Years of working in a commercial environment means that I’m equally adept with expressing my vision digitally.  This means that I can develop my sketches and colour palettes digitally, before translating these onto canvas using acrylics.  The speed with which acrylics dry means I can work at speed and any changes can be made at the right time.  

3. What do you hope viewers take away from your work? Whether emotionally, intellectually or otherwise.

I’m hoping to share some of the wonder, joy and good fortune I feel to live in such an inspiring area.  Subject matter is everything.

4. Did your original vision for this piece change during its creation? If so, how and why?

The fact that my work is not strictly based on specific references means I have the freedom to make the image look and feel the way I want and this gives me the flexibility to change aspects of the image as I work.  In the current painting, the overall composition didn’t change much from the concept stage but the colours evolved a lot while I worked on the canvas.

5. Is your work based on any particular location in West Cork?

Generally my work is not based on any one place, more created from my memories of places and atmospheres that affected or stayed with me from being there.  This submission was initially inspired by an old boat in Clonakilty harbour, though the rest of the painting is clearly somewhere else!