Darragh O'Connell is a 56-year-old figurative painter based in rural Wexford. His portrait ‘John and Fionnán’ was shortlisted for the AIB National Portrait prize 2024 and was exhibited in the National Gallery of Ireland and Killarney House. In 2020 he won the US Ireland Council and Irish Art's Review Portraiture Award at the 2020 RHA Annual Exhibition. In 2018 his portrait ‘Buddy’ was shortlisted for the Zurich Portrait Prize and exhibited in the National Gallery of Ireland. He has been selected for group exhibitions at the RHA and RUA. Recent artist residencies include Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Monaghan and Cill Rialaig, Kerry.

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"I paint portraits and the figure. I am currently working on 2 strands of paintings which are quite different but are related to each other. In 2016 I was badly injured in a car accident, this resulted in me being put in an induced coma for 2 weeks and coming close to death. This had a profound effect on me and my outlook to life. I experienced some incredible and terrifying visions while in the coma. To confront and capture these memories I commenced painting a number of coma paintings with these visions as the theme. I have also begun painting images of my limbs, body, and my reflected face. These paintings are an examination of the self, my ageing body, its flesh and skin, confronting mortality and human vulnerability. I am currently working on these series of paintings which I hope to combine for my first solo exhibition which I plan to present in a public art space. I hope that they create an emotional response, similar to what I feel when I see works that examine the human condition."