Institution
SETU Wexford
Medium
Sculpture
Graduation Year
Class of 2026
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I am a multi- disciplinary artist and writer, living and working in coastal County Wexford. My work explores themes of memory, both personal and collective, imagination, place and the everyday mundane. For me, the experience of daily beach walks near my home and sea swimming are central to my process. By drawing en plein air and writing in the outdoors, I immerse myself in the sights and smells of the natural world and this knits my sense of self and place. This environment provides a source of inspiration, quiet contemplation and refuge. Growing up on a farm and now living in a wild coastal place, I have always been a witness to the changing landscape and seasons. I draw on the beauty and wildness of the natural world and the monotony of the domestic in my work and am inspired by the crossover between architecture, fashion and design. I take photographs of scenes of everyday moments where light and shadows capture fleeting moments of wonder. I work with watercolour, acrylic and oil paint, photographs, textiles and assemblage, adapting to the medium best suited to my subject matter. My practice is constantly evolving and there is an element of chance and experimentation, where even I am surprised at the end result. Colour, shapes and form, the physicality of material and the unruly, messy nature of making, are an inexhaustible subject for me. My process begins with research, this involves reading and interrogating a thought, an idea or a feeling. Using thumbnail sketches, material experiments, drawing and journaling, I use my personal photographs and collected source material to develop my work. I have always been a collector; beach combing and found materials, textiles and discarded objects provide the raw materials for my work. In my practice, I am interrogating the punctum, trying to investigate the invisible, exploring human relationships and the landscape both real and imagined. I am fascinated with series and repetition and written text has recently started to appear in my work. My use of text can provide the audience with a deeper understanding of the piece or provide a humanity to my work. I do not commit to a single stylistic direction. Significant influences range from Lynda Benglis and her use of materials in acid hues, Eva Hesse’s exploitation of material, to the Scottish painter Joan Eardley, whose paintings of the wild coastal landscape of Catterline and community of Glasgow, delve into themes of place and community. I credit seeing the exhibition “That Ship on the Mountain” in Madrid this year, by the Spanish painter Juan Usle as being a revelation in the curation of paintings and photographs. Usle’s work links his abstract paintings and close crop photographs with the visible and the imagined world. In recent years, I have received a formal art education and am now pursuing my love of making and exploring my artistic interests. My work is evolving as my practice deepens, I am constantly open to innovation and exploring new ideas in my creativity.
