Ireland built this exhibit from sessions with artist models which he limited to one hour. As such these "body portraits" are momentary responses to the effects of light across a dance of body forms.
"Modeling is a performance of motionless endurance and focus," says Ireland. "My art hopefully shows a connection to the history of the nude as an icon of fertility or spirituality, or the perfected essence of muscular balance or noble gestural flow. My desire to put a face on a posed expression is an affinity I feel with comic book imagery. It uses perspective and caricature to express character. By its linear description, it identifies a significant time and space, for me, the shared energy between artist and model. As such there is something contemporary about the immediately conceived expression, also a type of performance-a drama with 2 actors. The record of that hour is a seat before the stage of each painting."
Ireland pursued a bachelor's degree in economics with strong art grades before serving in the U.S. Navy for three years, which took him through Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Jamaica, and the Coast of Florida. His palette often suggests these European or semitropical locales. He later entered an independent study program at Pittsburgh Filmmakers using animated paintings, human movement, and dance. He works as a wood and finish furniture repair artist, working in people's homes, often while they watch, which he considers a theatrical event in itself.
