At the age of 17 Kieran attained a scholarship to study classical drawing and painting techniques at the Angel Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. After he completed his studies he moved to London to establish a studio and produce work for exhibitions in Australia and the UK. Still life is the primary focus of Kieran's work, he finds the relationship between specific objects particularly fascinating, especially when elements that seem incongruous can be made to complement each other in surprising ways. The illusion in his work draws from but progresses beyond the simple visual trickery of traditional
trompe l’oeil and becomes conceptual when the relationship between objects alters how we perceive them. 

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Kieran is an avid reader and much of his work is inspired by literature. Some of his paintings are inspired by entire stories, some by passages from books and many of them are interpretations of poetry. The visual nature of poems makes them particularly appropriate for the thematic content of paintings. He is especially fond of the work of T.S. Eliot and many of his paintings are inspired by his writings.