Darren Ryan

Portrait of the Artist as a Middle Aged Man, 2025

Photographic giclée print on archival paper | Unframed: 25.5 x 20.5cm

‘This self-portrait is a bold exploration of layered identity and emotional complexity. Merging vibrant colour, striking textures, and fractured composition, the image challenges traditional representation. My intense gaze, offset by surreal distortions and saturated tones, reflects themes of vulnerability, resilience, and transformation. The artwork blurs the lines between digital manipulation and raw self-expression, inviting the viewer to confront the constructed nature of identity and the emotional weight carried behind the face we present to the world.’ - Darren Ryan.

Darren Ryan is a photographer and visual artist based in Limerick. His work explores landscape, identity, and memory through layered digital collage and fine art photography. A graduate of Limerick School of Art and Design and holder of a Master’s in Social Practice in the Creative Environment, Ryan blends documentary instinct with artistic composition, often focusing on the west of Ireland. His recent series, The Loop Head Collection, reimagines the Wild Atlantic Way through a textured lens of place, people, and flora. Ryan’s work has been exhibited nationally, and he continues to collaborate on socially engaged arts projects across Ireland.

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