Bio

I am an Irish artist whose practice investigates the intersections of psychology, landscape, and memory. My work is shaped by a longstanding engagement with water as both a physical environment and a symbolic space. Dark or obscured water, in particular, operates in my practice as a metaphor for the unseen: fear, inheritance, and the undercurrents that shape individual and collective experience.

Research is central to how I work. I draw from archival materials, iconic imagery, cultural symbolism, and photographic references to build a conceptual framework before creating visual outcomes. This research-driven approach allows me to construct layered narratives and to engage critically with how images form, repeat, and carry meaning across time.

A significant part of my current practice is The Blackwater Project, an ongoing multi-part body of work that combines visual research, fieldwork, and artistic production. Although the project takes its name from an Irish river, it extends far beyond geography, examining psychological depth, internal landscapes, and the tension between what is visible and what remains submerged. The project evolves through sustained inquiry and continues to inform the direction of my broader artistic trajectory.

I work across Northern and Southern Ireland, participating actively in the region’s artistic networks, opportunities, and residency contexts. My practice is grounded in a commitment to place while engaging with wider discussions around environment, embodiment, and narrative construction.

Ultimately, my work explores what exists beneath the surface — in landscapes, in images, and in ourselves — and seeks to articulate the complex, often unseen forces that shape human experience.

Short Bio

“I create atmospheric watercolour landscapes that blur the line between reality and memory, drawing inspiration from the dark, tannin-rich waters of the River Blackwater. My work is built on layers—granulated textures, liquid charcoal washes, and deep, moody tones that shift like the river itself. Each painting is an exploration of light and shadow, where pigment settles into organic patterns, mimicking the way nature shapes the land. I want my art to feel like a place you’ve seen before, but only in a dream—familiar yet just out of reach, like something the water might reveal… or take away.”

Brenda Bullock, recipient of the royal photographic award, is an artist and photographer with a masters in fine art and a rich history of exhibitions. Previous works include Unheinlech, a look into the secret lives of rural Wales, as well as Traces, a collaborative project which explored the heritage of the Elan Valley dams. More recent exhibitions include "the space" between and the curating of Seat 45.

Unheinlech Images above

Ghosts

Icemen

Biography

Brenda Bullock graduated from the London College of Printing with a BA Honors' degree in media production design in [1982]. Brenda worked for several years in London in publishing houses as an in house book designer, which included Gaia books and Octopus books[2084]. Following a career break to start and raise a family Brenda updated her skills by working as a web designer and programmer in Mid Wales for a local company during which she did a HNC in computing at Coleg Powys, Newtown[2005].

Brenda then became interested in photography and in order to learn more she took a job working for Jessop's photography in Aberystwyth where she learned a great deal about digital photography and decided to take this to the next level and set up her own business "Raw-Photos" [2005-2010] concentrating initially on portraiture photography. Brenda applied for and was accepted at Aberystwyth university to do a Masters in fine art through the medium of photography. The MA project was in essence a way to explore the intriguing idea of alienation in all its occurrences. Brenda sought to uncover the stories that lie beneath the idyllic surface of our towns and villages, to meet and talk with people whose stories of alienation, anguish and isolation had been the fuel for this series of work. While completing her Masters Brenda submitted work to the Royal photographic society and was the winner of their [2010] bursary for her work. Brenda has also been lecturing in Llandrindod Wells and Brecon Colleges for three years teaching Digital Photography and photographing the hair and makeup shoots for the collage. Her work can be seen in Brecon college salons.

Brenda exhibited her work at Aberystwyth school of Art[2011-12], the Atkinson gallery [2011], the Wyeside gallery[2008], and the Burton gallery [2008]. Brenda then had a joint exhibition at the Rhayader museum and gallery under "Encompass" [2011]which was a collaboration of MA Artists.

Since completing her MA Brenda has been working projects exploring the theory that a trace, or an impression of thought can be more powerful than the original object, the subject from which those impressions are first drawn. The remnants’ of a ruined image for example often hold more interest, more provocation and power, than the original image could instill or evoke. She has developed this idea, to hone in on the notion that the photograph can be destructured into dust. The photograph, painting or sketch loses structure, but still contains its function with surviving marks, morphed icons and scars as evidence of the former existence. She explores the question, what happens to our understanding, when only a trace is left.