ARTIST STATEMENT
I am an independent visual artist and researcher based in The Model, Sligo. My practice is rooted in drawing and drawing research as a means to interrogate the perceptual and aesthetic experience of drawing both inside and outside the gallery space. My practice queries whether drawing, as a pre-reflective perceptual experience, can suspend the viewers attention. My hope is to open up a temporary ‘holding space’; a temporary dwelling where drawing may stir a sense of wonder in the viewer, who may be reawakened to the basic experience of the world and “hear the uncanny rumble of existence itself” (Van Manen, 2011). For me, drawing is a means of orientating oneself to lived experiences. It is a way of bringing forth something, a way of knowing the world differently by grasping the world pathetically. Drawing as aesthetic experience draws the viewer’s attention to drawing as a phenomena while making connections that arise between the aesthetic experience and the surrounding environment and/or society.
I am an independent visual artist and researcher based in The Model, Sligo. My practice is rooted in drawing and drawing research as a means to interrogate the perceptual and aesthetic experience of drawing both inside and outside the gallery space. My practice queries whether drawing, as a pre-reflective perceptual experience, can suspend the viewers attention. My hope is to open up a temporary ‘holding space’; a temporary dwelling where drawing may stir a sense of wonder in the viewer, who may be reawakened to the basic experience of the world and “hear the uncanny rumble of existence itself” (Van Manen, 2011). For me, drawing is a means of orientating oneself to lived experiences. It is a way of bringing forth something, a way of knowing the world differently by grasping the world pathetically. Drawing as aesthetic experience draws the viewer’s attention to drawing as a phenomena while making connections that arise between the aesthetic experience and the surrounding environment and/or society.
BIOGRAPHY
Graduated from DIT (BA Fine Art), (2000) and a MPhil (Fine Art, Research) in Newcastle University, Australia, (2013).
Drawing as Wonder: Examining whether drawing can induce a sense of wonder through practice-based research
DRAWING DECENTERED: ESTABLISHING ONLINE PLATFORM IN COLLABORATION WITH FOUR PROFESSIONAL IRISH ARTISTS/ACADEMICS TO TEST AND EXPERIMENT THE PARAMETERS OF CONTEMPORARY DRAWING PRACTICES IN IRELAND
CDP: COOLANEY DRAWING PROJECT. CURATOR AND LEAD ARTIST WITH LOCAL RESIDENTS FROM THE VILLAGE OF COOLANEY IN CO. SLIGO. THE AIM OF THE GROUP IS TO EXPLORE LOCAL SOCIAL HISTORIES AND MATERIAL CULTURE THROUGH DRAWING, PERFORMANCE DRAWING AND EXPANDED FIELD OF DRAWING TO ALTER HOW LOCAL RESIDENTS VIEW THEIR SURROUNDINGS.
COLLABORATIONS:ONGOING COLLABORATION FOR PAST FIVE YEARS WITH DR ANNEMARIE MURLAND (AUSTRALIA). DEVELOPING COLLABORATION WITH ARTIST AND LECTURER GREG BURGOYNE UK), EIMEAR MULVEY, NATIONAL SEAN NOS DANCER 2018.
RECENT Exhibitions | The Model, Sligo, 2017, Damer House Gallery, lIMERICK, CATALYST ARTS, BELFAST, Centre for Creative Practices, Dublin (2016/2017) , Municipal Gallery dlr Lexicon, Dublin (2016), The Waterways Ireland, Enniskillen (2016)
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RECENT Residencies| Leitrim Sculpture Centre, 2017, Centre for Creative Practices, 2017, Tinahely Courthouse Arts Centre, (2015) and RYSS, NSW, Australia Funded by NSW Arts Council ( 2013, 2011, 2010)
RECENT PRESENTATIONS| PANELLIST |ARTIST TALKS 'Drawing as Wonder' Hunt Musuem, Limerick (2018), Arts in Education NATIONAL DAY, National university of ireland (2018), 'DRAWING CONVERSATIONS 2', COVENTRY UNIVERsity, (2017), VISUAL ARTS IRELAND, 'GET TOGETHER' (2017), 'NEW PERSPECTIVES ON DRAWING' FOR BART LODEWIJKS’ EXHIBITION IN THE MODEL, SLIGO (2016), THE 20TH AUSTRALASIAN CONFERENCE FOR IRISH STUDIES IN UNIVERSITY OF NSW, AUSTRALIA AND IN THE NOT JUST NED: THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE IRISH IN AUSTRALIA AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA
Collections | PUBLIC: Office of Public Works, iRELAND, WICKLOW COUNTY COUNCIL, LISSADELL HOUSE ART COLLECTION, MAITLAND REGIONAL GALLERY, NSW Australia, MERCURE HOTELS, NSW AUSTRALIA. PRIVATE COLLECTIONS ARE IN IRELAND, AUSTRALIA, UK AND USA
Studio visits can be made by appointment |
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Studio - The Model Sligo, Ireland 2016- present 
Studio - The University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia, 2013 |
STUDIO - nARARA, NSW, Australia 2013-4 
STUDIO - lISSADELL hoUSE, sLIGO, iRELAND 2015 |
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