Lisa Ballard
Lisa Ballard is an award-winning mid-career painter. She is an associate member of the Royal Ulster Academy and has extensively exhibited across Ireland and further afield. Her paintings are held in numerous private and public collections, including of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland’s State Collection.
She creates atmospheric paintings inspired by landscapes encountered in Ireland and around the world. She is drawn to the temporal in the landscape. Leaning towards abstraction, but holding on to the figurative elements, she tries to capture in her paintings how it is to be in that moment and place – her visual as well as her emotional experience. Ballard also uses the landscape to explore her obsession with colour and light, in particular the juxtaposition of colours and how they affect each other. Focusing on the creative artistic process, she makes painterly brush marks that encourage an organic response to every colour and layer she applies. She also incorporates washes, flat spray paint and scratches to allow the painting to evolve.
EDUCATION
• 2003 BA degree in Fine Art, University of Ulster, Belfast, Northern Ireland
AWARDS
• 2003 President’s Prize, Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Belfast, N. Ireland
• 2007 Killarney Art Gallery Prize for young artist under 35, Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Belfast, N. Ireland
• 2006 Original Vision (sponsored by Robinson & McIlwaine), Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Belfast, N. Ireland
COLLECTIONS
• Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland (public)
• Arts Council of Northern Ireland (public)
• Civil Service of Northern Ireland (public)
• Office of Public Works / Ireland’s State Collection (public)
• Private collections
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
• 2023 'The Space Between', Ards Arts Centre, Newtownards, N. Ireland
• 2021 'Wander Lands', Gallery 545, Belfast, N. Ireland
• 2018 ‘Aura’, ArtisAnn Gallery, Belfast, N. Ireland
• 2017 ‘Desert Vibes’, Framewerk, Belfast, N. Ireland
• 2015 Gormleys Fine Art Gallery, Belfast, N. Ireland
• 2012 Mullan Gallery, Belfast, N. Ireland
• 2010 Mullan Gallery, Belfast, N. Ireland & Greenacres Gallery Wexford, Ireland
• 2008 Mullan Gallery, Belfast, N. Ireland
• 2006 Mullan Gallery, Belfast, N. Ireland
• 2004 Stables Gallery, Ballymoney, N. Ireland
• 2003 Mullan Gallery, Belfast, N. Ireland
• 2000 Stables Gallery, Ballymoney, N. Ireland
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
• 2024-2019 'Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast, N. Ireland
• 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020, 2019 ‘Gallery 545: Contemporary Art of Northern Ireland #1, #2, #3, #4, #5', Gallery 545 at the Island Arts Centre, Lisburn (2022-24), Gallery 545 Online (2020), Gallery 545 at the Sea Holly Gallery, Belfast (2019), N. Ireland
• 2021, 2020, 2018 'Gallery 545 Group Exhibition', Gallery 545, Belfast, N. Ireland
• 2022 'New Forms', Ards Arts Centre, Newtownards, N. Ireland
• 2018 ‘Luminance’ Hamilton Gallery, Sligo, Ireland (2-person show)
• 2018 ‘Tropical Ravine Exhibition’, Ulster Museum, Belfast, N. Ireland
• 2018 ‘Paintings’, Ards Arts Centre, Newtownards, N. Ireland (2-person show)
• 2017 ‘Chroma’ Gallery 1608, Bushmills, N. Ireland (2-person show)
• 2016 ‘A Painting Show’, QSS Gallery, Belfast, N. Ireland
• 2016 Barbara Stanley Gallery, London, England (2-person show)
• 2014 ‘Hue, 3 Approaches to Colour', The Engine Room Gallery, Belfast, N. Ireland
• 2011 Peppercanister, Dublin, Ireland (2-person show)