Statement.
Thematically, my work is concerned with the precarious balance between culture and nature, both in terms of social organisational principles and in terms of self-governance.
The home features in my prints as the locus of tensions between the two forces, the location of a cultural fault-line through which instinct seeps. The home is the space in which we are at once most protected and least on guard, its very familiarity being the precondition of the uncanny or the foil against which any breaches of cultural equilibrium are most apparent. The animals represented in my prints exist at the point of intersection of culture and nature; the monkey and dog are nearest to us in terms of biology and sentiment while the spider, fly and rat are spatially closest whether their presence is humanly sanctioned or not. Birds enter into human spaces and imagination as scavengers, omens and familiars; they are symbols of liberty as well as being the mythological alter-egos of shamans, deities and prophets. In my work I aim to utilise anthropomorphic thinking/feeling without presenting the animal engaging in activities foreign to its nature. I am interested in the viewer's grafting of motivation or emotion onto the body of the animal and the various assumptions made regarding their behaviour.
I explore these themes through drawing both as a preparatory and an autonomous medium and also through printmaking. As an undergraduate at Cluain Mhuire, Galway, I studied printmaking and specialised in etching, monoprinting and lithography. My recent work has focused on the mezzotint technique.The theoretical basis for and implications of contemporary uses of the animal in art formed the basis of my MA in Art and Art History at Aberystwyth University, Wales.
2011. Royal Hibernian Academy 181st Annual Exhibition, Dublin.
14th International Triennial of Small Graphic Forms, Łódź, Poland.
Limerick Printmakers Annual Open Submission Exhibition.
16th German International Exhibition of Graphic Art, Frechen, Germany.
Royal Ulster Academy, 130th Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast
International Mezzotint Festival, Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts, Russia.
Singer’s Corner, The Lavit Gallery, Cork.
Galway International Mini Print Exhibition, Galway City Museum.
Small Print: Big Impression. Touring: New Walk Museum and Art Gallery,Leicester
78 Derngate, Northampton
Rufford Craft Centre, North Nottingham
Gallery Top, Matlock, Derbyshire
mac, Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham
Ireland: Alphabet Series. Irish Arts Centre, New York.
Biennale Internationale d’Estampe Contemporaine de Trois Riviére (BIEC), Quebec, Canada.
2010. Cork Printmakers, Annual Christmas Showcase.
Impressions 2010, Galway Arts Centre.
Excavate, Cork Public Museum.
Salon at the Bodega, St Peter’s Market, Cornmarket Street, Cork.
Royal Ulster Academy, 129th Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast.
1st International Open Print Competition, Open Space Galleries, Penryn, Cornwall.
Biennial International Mini Print Exhibition (BIMPE) VI, Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada.
Touring exhibition visiting: Federation Gallery, Vancouver; Dundarave Print Workshop Gallery,
Vancouver;
SNAP, Edmonton, Alberta.
9th Lessedra World Art Print Annual, Sofia, Bulgaria.
30th Mini Print International of Cadaqués, Spain.
Limerick Printmakers Open Submission 2010, Limerick, Ireland.
Mill Cove Awards Exhibition, Castletownbere, Co. Cork, Ireland.
2009. Cork Printmakers, Annual Christmas Showcase.
8th Lessedra World Art Print Annual, Sofia, Bulgaria: awarded Special Prize.
7th British International Mini Print Exhibition. Touring exhibition 2009-2011 at:
London Print Studio
Ropewalk Gallery, Barton on Humber
Melton Library Art Gallery, Leicestershire
Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Aberdeen Arts Centre
Gracefields Arts Centre, Dumfries
Beverley Art Gallery, Yorkshire
Borough Museum and Art Gallery, Newcastle-Under-Lyme
The Brindley, Runcorn, Cheshire
Kirkby Gallery, Knowsley, Liverpool
2008. Impressions ‘08, Galway Arts Centre.
Limerick Printmakers Open Submission Print Show.
Graduate Exhibition, School of Art, Aberystwyth University.
2005. RDS Student Art Awards Exhibition.
Summer Exhibition, White Room Gallery, Galway.
Graduate Exhibition, Cluain Mhuire, Galway.
