Originally trained as a sculptor, O’Mahony’s output for many years has been in painting. Working in mixed media, his pieces combine watercolour, gold leaf, and acrylic, using a layering process to give an impression of marks floating on and within the surface. He employs a vocabulary of symbols and characters in work which distorts the line between painting and drawing. The work, though not allegorical, flows between the visible and the concealed, the apparent and the obscure.

He works in series, often on a number of paintings at a time, shifting back and forth between the various pieces to create a body of work. Some pieces explore the power of words to produce a positive or negative response in the listener. Other paintings examine the nature of change as discussed in the allegory of Plato’s Cave, which explores the idea that it is easier to live in the shadows than to move out beyond a self-imposed comfort zone.

O’Mahony is a graduate of LSAD Limerick. He has lived in Ireland, Israel and Malawi. On returning from Africa he became a member of one of Limerick’s first artist collectives (All + 10 sorts), and exhibited at length with the group. His first solo exhibition was in the Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick, and subsequently he has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally. His work is in private and public collections in Ireland and abroad, including Limerick County and City Councils, Government buildings, Dublin, and Berlemonte Buildings, Brussels. His most recent show was ‘Changing Shadows’ at the Courthouse Gallery, Ennistymon, in June 2016.  O’Mahony lives in County Clare and has been a member of Contact Studios, Limerick, since 2005.