Fergus Costello left The Dublin College of Art and Design in 1975 in order to concentrate full time on his work. From the garage of his house he began his work as a designer and creator of Church interiors (something he was later to define as liturgical art). Initially Fergus made varied and strong use of metallic and ceramic materials in his work. The effect that the artist attains with these media can be seen in Mercy Sisters Chapel, Cappaquin, Co. Waterford in which brass and native hardwoods are used. In his early career Fergus also did a lot of painting. His style is one of sweeping curved line, utilising vibrant colours and patterns as can be seen in Ring Parish Church, Co. Waterford. In many ways the artist sought to move away from the traditional Religious images, and look at the same Christian concepts in a new light. The image of the sacred heart of Jesus below for example utilises a very minimalist style in comparison to the very graphic nature in which this concept had traditionally adorned Irish mantlepieces.

     About fifteen years ago Costello was alerted to the medium of Bog woods and was instantly captivated by the miraculous nature of the material. It marked a shift in his thinking into areas of Celtic Art and spiritualism. To Fergus the resurrected timber was to become a special channel for exploring themes of Christian rebirth and new life. Fergus makes varied use of Bog wood, sometimes retaining its raw natural form, sometimes carving and shaping it to new forms. The tabernacle of St. Patrick's Seminary Thurles for example is constructed from the root system of an ancient pine tree thousands of years old.

     In 1996 Fergus decide to found the studio. Up until this point Fergus had been working more or less on his own with at most four-five employees. He had collaborated with different people on big projects but in order to attain greater control over the interiors he envisaged he knew he needed a full-time professional crew. Fergus Costello Studios was thus born and Fergus moved the whole operation to a massive new premises inside an old factory. Now Fergus can use the warehouse space for drying huge trees salvaged from the bogs and has converted other parts of the premises into offices and a viewing gallery. New horizons stretch before the artist as now he possesses the tools with which to implement the powerful scope of his visions. The artist and everyone working at the studio have high hopes for the future.

     We hope to have media articles on Fergus which have appeared in various magazines and newspapers over the years available from this site in Adobe Acrobat format in the future. Third party articles do after all give an outsiders angle on the artist. There are also some television pieces and a video which will also be available for preview from this site. Untill then you can read some other on-line articles about the artist.

• The "Learning Cultural Lessons from Bog-oak Art" article from The Irish Times.
• "Liturgy as Art and Craft", an article which appeared in Plan Architectural Magazine.