Gemma Gallagher is an award-winning artist from Belfast, celebrated as Artist of the Year by The Independent newspaper, UK. Gallagher has exhibited and sold her work internationally through galleries in London, Dubai, Dublin, and New York. Her art is held in both private and public collections, including the prestigious BBC Art Collection.

Gallagher’s work is both introspective and outward-looking, drawing from her experiences growing up amidst political conflict in Belfast. Her earlier work explored themes such as theromanticism of war, before transitioning to concepts such as escapism based on her personalexperiences navigating a complex modern world.

In recent years, her focus has shifted, with figures like women and wild animals emerging in her work. These subjects, a vivid contrast to her earlier political landscapes, symbolise notions of the exotic and serve as metaphors for escape.

In her most recent work, these figures have taken on a more solemn tone, reflecting her internal conflict between her own existence in a safe, prospering country while simultan eously confronting the realities of today’s global crises, such as the wars and division shaping the world.