About
Throughout my practice ideas of perception, decay, and relationships to space, place and environment are central. These elements remain fundamental in my current practice and investigations around fungi and continue to fascinate and feed my work.
Much of this work is captured in book form, which has its origins in my earlier work as a bookbinder/ modelmaker and through my work with Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership. What leaves a mark what remains as “waste”, what are we made of, are captured through a variety of media and creates part of my art practice. By approaching these ideas alongside ‘fungal thinking’, not only from an experiential viewpoint limited by my capacity to perceive (or not), I seek these invisible and often intangible lines of relation, again as waste, detritus or as digesters or better still as sites of potential and persistent life and models of other ways of being. These encounters and deliberations, in their practical form, come in many guises and often involve drawing, paper, found, made and grown materials, sculpture, social encounters and discussion, inks, digital media, books and installation.
My interest in mycology, specifically, is not strictly in its physical forms and bursts of material but its systems and ways of digestion, relating and transforming. These modes of being and connecting are fascinating routes for contemplating our own way of relating to environs and cycles and help in the creation of new naratives and methodologies.
CV
Selected Recent and Upcoming Projects:
2025 Mycoremediation Research Project, Rathlin Island, NI
2024 A Year in the Garden, Cranmore Creative Climate Project, Kids Own Publishing Partnership
23/24 Landscape, Ecology and Environment Residency (LEER) at Leitrim Sculpture Centre
2023 Woodland Chromatography a Pro Silva Annual Event artist talk, Dromahair, Co Leitrim
Time in the Woods, IEN / Faesta – A Day as part of Biodiversity week, Co. Leitrim
2021 (ongoing) Roots for the Future, Climate Arts Assembly, Project Art Centre, Dublin
Mycothoughts - Commissioned Work for Dock Arts Centre
2020 One Walk (video) contribution and interview with for 'Whose Woods These Are' - A Festival Of Trees, Dock Arts Centre
2019 Shoptalk - A commissioned art project by Leitrim County Council (Heritage and Arts office) and Creative Ireland.
2018 The Workstation - SPARK Residency, a partnership project of Leitrim Co. Co Arts Office.
Exhibitions:
2024 When We Cease to Understand the World, Interface Inagh, Galway International Arts Festival
LEER Residency Exhibition, Leitrim Sculpture Centre, Manorhamilton, Leitrim
2023 Interface Inagh, Clifden Arts Festival Exhibition.
Boyle Arts Festival, King House Exhibition, Roscommon
2022 Becoming – Online exhibition of language art with Camilla Nelson Single Apple Press
19/20 Fold/Unfold – Linenhall, Castlebar + Riverbank, Newbridge
2017 Thinking, Living, Dwelling, group exhibition, the Dock Arts Centre
Invited artist at Hamilton Gallery, Sligo
2016 Post card Exhibition, Sirius Art centre, Cobh,Co Cork
2015 Extremely Brief Impressions - Platform Art, NI (with Sound Artist Rachel ni Chuinn)
2014 Describing Architecture - Memory and place, City Asse. Hse, Dublin.
Summer Open Exhibition, Leitrim Sculpture Centre, Leitrim.
2013 An issue worth mentioning, Sligo art gallery, (Cairde Festival)
Group show at The Molesworth Gallery, Dublin
2012 Fragments - Unit H, market Studios, Dublin
2011 Spatial Reconstructions - The Hamilton Gallery, Sligo
2010 Sense of Space - The Joinery, Dublin
Trans Art Cavan, contemporary Fleadh Fringe event, Cavan,
Huis/house Rotterdam, Perennial Art /Het Wilde Weten
2011 Void : Volume - Galway Arts Centre, Galway
Three Farmers on their way to a dance - The Joinery, Dublin
Ubiety - TACTIC, Cork
2010 Unframed - Blue Wall Gallery, Cavan
Collections:
2020 Trinity College Dublin Collection
2018 The Workstation – Spark Residency - semi-permanent display in Leitrim County Council.
2015 Mental Health Awareness Commission for HSE collection, Sligo
2012 > Private Collections.
Lectures/ talks/ Conferences:
2024 Talk and Make as part of: When We Cease to Understand the World, Interface Inagh, Galway International Arts Festival
Fungi and Materiality, Burren College of Art, Co Clare
Fungi and Paper a talk on Materiality as part of Design & teaching of elective ‘Circular thinking and Making’ - NCAD Dublin
2023 Uncommon Worlds, Workshop, Conference Oulu University, Finland
Fungi and Paper a talk on Materiality as part of Design & teaching of elective ‘Circular thinking and Making’ - NCAD Dublin
2022 Speaking of which series II (Ecology Series) The Dock + LAB Dublin (Video/Panel)
Kids’ Own 25 Years Conference, The Model, Sligo (Panellist)
Book Making for Ecological Practices University of Copenhagen Denmark, (Masterclass/ Artist Talk)
2021 Rhizome, Green Arts Symposium, Project Arts Centre (Panellist)
2018 People and Systems – IT Sligo Fine Art - Artist talk
2018 Thinking, Living, Dwelling Panel discussion at the Dock Art Centre
2012 On book-works – George Perec and Merleau-Ponty, Architecture department, Waterford I.T. (Visiting Lecture)
2011 Sense of Space, On: Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, The Joinery, Dublin
2010 On stillness and movement past and present, Photo Ireland Festival, The Joinery, Dublin
Residencies:
2024 Roots for the Future Research Residency - Galway Co. Council, as part of ‘Invitation to Collaborate Funded Research’.
2023 LEER Leitrim Sculpture Centre (see above)
2018 Workstation – Spark Residency Leitrim County Council
2012/14/16 Virtually there, Kids Own Publishing Partnership
Awards:
2023 Agility Award, Arts Coucil of Ireland
2021 Agility Award, Arts Coucil of Ireland
2019 Leitrim Arts Awards – (for Shoptalk Project)
2014 Studio Award - Leitrim Sculpture Centre
2009 Governing Body Award – IT Sligo
2008 D.O. Sullivan Graphics Award
Publications/ Artist Books / Contributions:
2022 Mycothoughts - as part of Commission for Dock arts centre
Antennea, Journal of Nature in Visual Culture, issue 59 Autumn 2022 (Kaitlin Bryson + Sasa Spacal – contribution)
2021 Methodologies - Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership
2018 The Workstation – Publication as part of Residency for Leitrim Co.Co
2012 Fragments - Artist books (5x5 Ltd edition) NCAD, Dublin
Commissions:
2024 Interface Inagh, Galway Arts Festival Commission
2021 Visual Arts Commission for the Dock Arts Centre
2020 Yellow River Archive with Ballinamore Library and Solas Gallery
2015 Story house concept and construction design, Kids’ Own
2008 Mobile library concept and construction design, Kids’Own
Artist Panels:
‘19-’21 Creative Associate, Arts Council (North West)
‘18-’20 Architect in School – Irish Architecture Foundation
‘15-’19 Associate Workshop Artist/ Coordinator – Dock Arts Centre
‘14-’18 Arts Initiative in Mental Health, North West.
2008> Associate Artist - Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership
Curatorial:
2021 TaDa! – Touring Archival Exhibition, Kids’ Own Pub. Partn. (curator)
Source Magazine- Archive Selections for younger audiences
2020 Virtually There – UU, Belfast Kids’ Own Pub. Partn. (curator)
2018 Young Curators coordinator, Cairde Arts Festival, Sligo (coordinator)
Employment
2018 > Assistant Lecturer, Performing Art (Design ’18-24) Fine Art (‘24>) YAADA, ATU Sligo
Education
2018 BA - Architecture, IT Sligo
2011 MA - Art in the Contemporary World, NCAD
2009 BA - Fine Art, IT Sligo
