Contemporary painter Eve McGlynn’s work focuses on iconography and symbolism. Eve has created a collection of paintings that depict the life of the Virgin Mary through adapting Giotto’s series of the same subject matter. With contemporary painting influences informing her style and aesthetics, Eve’s practice is a synthesis of contemporary abstract oil painting with a series of personal reflections upon the concept of the Cult of the Virgin Mary.
Her works document the epoch of Mary’s Nativity, to her Coronation as Queen of Heaven, incorporating the same subtle symbols Giotto used to allude to her identity. Symbols such bowls, the colour ultramarine, bread, purple thread and scarlet veils which are peppered in the Master’s depictions of Mary are a staple of Eve’s own portrayals of the life of the Virgin. The under-paintings comprise of very literal drawings of these elements, all covered, with only ghosts of those initial illustrations remaining.
The paintings are an unravelling of the symbolism of the motifs that are traditionally used to represent The Virgin. Eve has deconstructed and repurposed 14th century themes into things that resonate with her, as an appropriation/appreciation of Giotto’s work.
Eve graduated from DJCAD with a BA(Hons) in Fine Art, 2020. She was the recipient of the RSA John Kinross Scholarship and was the Artist in Residence at Leith School of Art 2020-2021.
For more insight into Eve’s working life as an artist, check out our blog In the Studio with Eve McGlynn here.
