about the artist

photo taken by: brick films dublin

Visual Artist | Painter | Mixed Media Artist

Barbara Bennett is an Irish visual artist working across painting, mixed media, wearable art and installation. A graduate of the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), where she received a BA (Hons) in Visual Communication in 2017, her practice has evolved from a background in graphic design into an increasingly material and exploratory approach to contemporary art.

Barbara’s work is driven by a fascination with colour, texture, pattern and the emotional associations attached to everyday objects. Drawing on elements of nostalgia, contemporary culture and personal storytelling, she creates vibrant, tactile works that invite viewers to reconsider familiar imagery and objects in unexpected ways. Her practice is playful and often eccentric, using bold colour and hand-painted surfaces to explore ideas around identity, self-expression and the visual language of popular culture.

Following her studies at NCAD, Barbara spent several years working within the design industry in Ireland and abroad, developing experience across branding, packaging and visual communication. In 2019, she moved to Vancouver, Canada, to further her creative practice, returning to Ireland in 2020 when the global pandemic brought an unexpected pause to her plans.

During the subsequent lockdown, Barbara returned to painting with renewed focus. What began as an opportunity to experiment and reconnect with making developed into a significant new chapter in her artistic practice. Working intuitively across different surfaces and materials, she began to explore the possibilities of painting beyond the traditional canvas.

This period also led to her development of hand-painted footwear as an extension of her practice. Barbara began transforming authentic everyday objects into one-off artworks, using footwear as a canvas for her original imagery, patterns and compositions. Since launching her first collection in 2020, this work has developed through commissions, collaborations and exhibitions, with her collections presented through Brown Thomas CREATE. Her wider creative practice has also included collaborations with PlayStation and Más+ by Messi, alongside public commissions and features across Irish media including RTÉ, Ireland AM and The Late Late Show.

While her work has developed through both independent and collaborative projects, Barbara’s primary focus remains her studio practice: painting, experimentation and the exploration of visual language through colour, material and form.

Her work is rooted in a belief that art can be joyful, expressive and accessible while still offering space for reflection. Through vibrant colour, familiar references and unexpected materials, Barbara creates work that encourages individuality, nostalgia and a sense of play.

Barbara is currently continuing to develop her practice through painting, mixed media and three-dimensional work, with an interest in expanding the relationship between painted surfaces, objects and installation.

She is based in Ireland.

For enquiries, collaborations and artwork enquiries, please contact Barbara at barbarabennettdesigns@gmail.com.