Paul McGrane (b.1991, Dublin) is an artist & curator working in Dublin, Ireland. He graduated from Technological University Dublin in 2015 with a BA in Fine Art.

His practice focuses predominantly on painting and sculpture. His interests lie in public spaces such as places of worship, stadiums and sensory rooms. McGrane takes inspiration from how such areas are designed to channel certain auras or energy. Nostalgia and emotion also guide the creation of the work, as McGrane draws from personal memories of family and places he spent time in while growing up. Although the work is secular, it often references religion and spirituality- the sculptures take visual cues from Christian and mythic art, stained glass influences the colour of the paintings, and repeated physical movements while making the work can take on a meditative quality.

McGrane’s preoccupation with subjective feeling is mostly expressed through the language of abstraction- his paintings have foundation in colour, shapes, visual motifs, light and shadow. He has developed a process of layering thin washes of pigment repeatedly over each other. The paint is then brushed in long vertical or horizontal strokes.

The sculptures generally take the form of clay objects which are painted. They depict mythic figures, not connected to any specific tradition. They are otherworldly and are imagined as potentially being from the future or the ancient past simultaneously.