Rochelle Lucey
Irish Visual Artist and Curator
Rochelle Lucey is a visual artist based in Killorglin, Co. Kerry, Ireland. She graduated with a BA in Fine Art Painting from Limerick School of Art & Design in 2012. Her practice centres on abstract figurative painting, rooted in quiet observation and the emotional resonance of everyday moments.
From 2021 to 2023, Rochelle received consecutive Agility Awards from the Arts Council of Ireland, which supported the continued development of her studio practice and artistic growth. Rochelle has worked with Kerry Co Arts Office on a number of projects for Cruinniú na nÓg 2025, amongst others.
She served as Artistic Director of K-FEST Arts Festival from 2019 to 2023, and remained on the Board of Directors until 2025, contributing to the festival’s vision and impact within the Irish arts community.
In 2025, Rochelle is exhibiting in multiple group shows across Ireland. Her current body of work explores the space between clarity and ambiguity through an intuitive, reflective process. Grounded in moments of quiet interaction and fleeting gestures, her paintings blur the line between the seen and the felt. Using layering, erasure, and texture, she invites the viewer into open-ended visual narratives—spaces where memory, presence, and perception intersect.
Ultimately, her work is an invitation to pause: to look more closely at others, ourselves, and the subtle rhythms of everyday life.
INSPIRATION OF CURRENT WORK :
My new body of work is grounded in observation - quiet moments, subtle gestures, and fleeting interactions that often go unnoticed. Through an abstract figurative style, I aim to distill these everyday experiences into something more open and interpretive. I'm interested in the space between clarity and ambiguity, where form hints at the human figure but never fully resolves. This allows room for the viewer to bring their own associations and emotions into the work. The process is intuitive and reflective. I want to let each piece evolve through layering, erasure, and redirection. Texture and tone play an important role, echoing the complexity and impermanence of memory. Rather than offering fixed narratives, these paintings are invitations to pause and look more closely - at others, at ourselves, and at the quiet rhythms of life. Ultimately, this work is about connection: the act of seeing and being seen in the everyday.