Desmond Hickey

Desmond Hickey was educated in the National College of Art and Design in the 1970s and 1980s. Desmond was mainly self-taught although he did work under the likes of John Coyle RHA, Des Carrick RHA and Henry Healy RHA, all of whom influenced his work greatly.

Hickey has been known to be strongly influenced by his surroundings and the location he is in. Throughout all of his experimenting, he gathered that the act of painting was far more important than the subject as it is the act of painting which challenges so many artists. Hickey explored many subjects such as landscapes, still life and domestic scenes. This was so that he could challenge his ability to paint in all areas. Desmond’s preferred medium is oil. “I like how it can be manipulated, how it permits use of fingers as painting tools. I like how it looks when it dries and how it retains information about how a mark is made”.