Sport psychology

Irish Squash Open 2022 in Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club /  by PIGSY

Irish Squash Open 2022

Poster advertising the Irish Squash Open 2022 featuring artwork by dyslexic artist PIGSY. The poster outlines the dates in April for the Squash event and has an image of PIGSY's painting "Squash Soldiers"

Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club

April 16th - April 23rd 2022

No need to adjust your set!! This is still the PIGSY Art Blog. But humor me for a little bit while I digress and write about squash - but there is a reason for the digression…….my art work is featured on the promotional material for this event!

Irish Squash Open 2022

After 2 years the Irish Squash Open 2022 returns in association with Gillen Markets, for a bigger and better tournament.. The prize money has increased to $60,000 combined, for both draws. The top seeds are Emily Withlock of Wales, World Ranked Number 18 & Patrick Rooney of England, World Ranked Number 25, with 18 top 50 players in the world, among the entries in both draws.

There are 4 home players in the Open, Breanne Flynn, Hannah McGugan, Sam Buckley & Sean Conroy, all play on Tuesday.

Breanne Flynn plays Chan Yiwen of Malaysia at 4.30pm on Court 1
Hannah McGugan plays Julianne Courtice at 12 noon on Court 2
Sam Buckley plays Henry Leung at 3.30pm on Court 1
Sean Conroy plays Mahesh Mangaonkar at 5.15pm on Court 1

All matches from Court 1 will be live streamed on Irish Squash TV from Tuesday & Wednesday. PSA Live will broadcast from the quarter finals on Thursday to the finals on Saturday.

Or if you want to watch the squash live, and in person, you can visit Fitzwilliam to enjoy some top quality squash from some of the best players in the world!

Irish Squash Open 2022 poster artwork by PIGSY - see below for details (and less squash talk and more art ramblings!)

A linear art print by PIGSY is pictured in a cream coloured frame with large border.

Irish Squash Open 2022 poster features PIGSY’s “Squash Soldiers”

As a squash player and lover of the game, I am really proud to have my artwork used for the poster advertising the Irish Squash Open 2022. The painting featured on the poster is “Squash Soldiers” which is a large scale artwork that is on public view in Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club and you can read full details of “Squash Soldiers” here.

Here’s a fun fact about the painting that you might enjoy if you are a squash player! If you look at the painting, you will see faces in the crowd watching a squash game.

Well, guess how I created these “faces in the crowd”?!

So of course I used the frame of a squash racquet as a stencil!

There’s always double meanings (if not even triple meanings) in my paintings. And of course as an artist with dyslexia, my paintings can be described as chaotic (a bit like my squash playing!) or “dyslexic”, with words and text written in a haphazard manner or crossed out. To understand how I paint, you must know that I am continually battling against my “dyslexic brain” and I do this by firstly always starting out with a methodical planning of an artwork to ensure a cohesive finish to it and additionally I base all of my paintings on mathematical equations. This mathematical basis means that although I paint in a loose and fluid manner my marks are always deliberate, and when the painting is finished it has a rigidity and structure, subtle as it is, that can be read or picked up on by the viewer.

More images and information about this large scale artwork can be read on the PIGSY blog or contact me for details (click the above link if you want to see images of the completed piece).

PIGSY Art Video

Watch below to see the “Focus on Art” video featuring Squash Soldiers by PIGSY.

Squash Soldiers /  by PIGSY

“Squash Soldiers” by PIGSY an artwork about the game of squash by PIGSY

A large scale artwork about the competition of squash playing, now on display in Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club

“Squash Soldiers”

Kemp writes about the latest Pigsy piece, a large scale art work that is now on display in the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin, Ireland.

In his latest and largest art piece created to date, PIGSY presents us with “Squash Soldiers”, a study of the benefits of undertaking a competitive practise. This is illustrated through squash, a sport that the artist has played at a high level since his youth.

Competition in Sport

The main two figures in the piece represent the “professional” and the “amateur” player and the connection between their relative ambitions. PIGSY afford both forms an equal billing in the painting to illustrate that the standard you play at is not as important as the benefits accrued from the participation.

The artist speaks of the unspoken bond formed by the repetition of a mutual experience, the achievement of a personal set of goals and the feel good factor achieved by a participatory role as far more beneficial than merely “being good” or “winning trophies”

Equality & Inclusivity in sport

As is usual in his work, the piece is flush with metaphor. The ghostly audience represent the standard bearers of the sport looking on. Both a left and right handed player can be seen either side of the painting to symbolise equality and inclusivity.

Finally, the artist’s perennial fascination with the functions of the brain are dotted throughout the work. The piece is gridded out to represent a squash court but also the eight parts of the brain that are utilised during a competitive pursuit.

“Squash Soldiers” by PIGSY is on public display in the art collection of Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin, Ireland

Art Mug

“Squash Soldiers” is now available on a printed enamel mug from the PIGSY merchandise store. Order yours here today!

Edit - Feb 2022

Squash Soldiers shortly available as a limited edition print!

Squash Soldiers is shortly available as a framed limited edition print. The print has a bespoke custom frame designed by Ciaran McCoy. It makes a great gift - contact me for further info.