About
John Byrne, who signs his work simply as joby, a shortened form of his name, has been making art all his working life. By choosing Joby as his artistic identity, he creates a name that is uniquely his own, distinct from the other artists who share the same name.
Journey
He began his journey at the National Art School, where the foundations of his visual language were laid. He later retrained as a graphic designer, embarking on a busy, decades-long career where precision, boldness, and clarity of form became second nature. Now retired from the demands of commercial design, he has returned to art with renewed freedom - exploring fresh directions and giving shape to ideas that once waited at the edges of his working life.
He creates his work digitally, using his own photography as the seed of transformation. His images carry the clarity of design: bold silhouettes, distilled colour planes, and dynamic arrangements that hover between the figurative and the abstract. They intrigue the eye, inviting viewers to question what they see, and what lies beyond the first glance.
Alongside this digital practice, he continues to work with his hands through the centuries-old craft of copper-plate etching. Here he turns to more traditional imagery - scenes, trees, ferries and dark art - producing series of limited edition prints, each impression unique.