Collaboration between
Ward Roberts & Fionn Regan
Ward Roberts Studio is thrilled to announce the latest series from the photographer known for his exquisitely composed, pastel-colored images projecting isolation and loneliness. This series of images photographed between 2015-18, takes its name, Stars that paint, from the projects poetic collaboration with Fionn Regan.
In a departure from his work documenting the muted colors and repetitive architecture of Hong Kong’s sport courts, to sunbathers and the redevelopment of New York’s Far Rockaway beach, Roberts turns the camera inwards and captures raw hearts suspended in space.
He aims to accentuate the complexity and beauty of the heart, both metaphorically and literally. Suspending the hearts in time and space procured from various unspecified animal species, the artist shines light on the beauty of diversity. No two hearts are the same, yet they are entirely similar in function. Floating in a blank space, the hearts are stripped of signifiers such historical timeline, location, gender or identifying species.
Roberts holds a fascination with the heart and its relationship to love, and the very real pain of heartbreak. The artist has a very personal relationship to this topic, after experiencing a difficult heartbreak, scarily finding that he had an uncommon condition where his left ventricle chamber fails to operate properly. He pokes fun at this irony, that heartbreak itself could be the trigger for his own heart to cease working. Biologically, the heart is the beginning of life, the first functional organ and very poetically it is the end of life for many too. Working on this project, the artist was interested to find that society treats the heart as a taboo, delicate subject. Fragile, extremely personal and considered something uncomfortable to discuss, Stars that paint brings the organ into the foreground and encourages awareness.
This photographic series is in collaboration with the musician dubbed “the Bob Dylan of our time”, Fionn Regan of Bon Iver fame. Regan paints his poetry inspired by the themes of mortality.
Sold in editions of two at a time, the artist encourages his audience to share their heart with others.
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ward roberts is an independent conceptual artist who creates exquisitely composed photographs drawing on themes such as the effects of loneliness and isolation in the modern world.
the artist’s perspective is fresh and engaging, the sophisticated aesthetic are often contradicted by subtle unscripted moments. a soft drenched colour pallet is a common theme. there is an innate energy at the core of his work, one which is harnessed and marshaled into every detail in the composition. roberts’ work is in many ways a rebuttal of the prevailing trend of urban, gritty style contemporary photography. there is a dichotomy at play in his fine art images which simultaneously recall the mastery of medium and calculated patience of remote academic painters, yet his subjects and presentation feel completely new and contemporary.
ward is currently based in new york.
Bray-born singer/songwriter & multi-instrumentalist Fionn Regan has been a prominent figure in the Irish underground since the early 2000’s. A purveyor of cryptic yet cosy indie-folk and impressive acoustic rhythm, Fionn has been hailed as his generation's answer to Bob Dylan and his song “Abacus” was recently sampled on “00000 Million” from Bon Iver’s ’22, A Million’. He has released a number of EP’s on various independent labels but came to prominence in 2006 with the release of his critically acclaimed debut studio album, ‘The End Of History’. The self-produced LP was nominated for the 2007 Mercury Music Prize and also named best Irish album of the year. Fionn has released 3 studio albums since: ‘The Shadow Of An Empire’, ‘100 Acres Of Sycamore’ & ‘The Bunkhouse Vol 1: Anchor Black Tattoo’, all of which were commended with a string of glowing reviews.
Following the release of Anchor Black Tattoo, Fionn was awarded the Gold Medal of Honorary Patronage by Trinity College, Dublin’s Philosophical Society. The award had previously been honoured by Jack White, Seamus Heaney and Stephen Fry. It was a warming touch, and to Fionn, completed a full circle. It was time to re-evaluate, taking stock of the past whilst looking positively at the future.