Artist Statements 

Melanie McGrath

My practice is a socially engaged investigation into the urban space and the culture within. In particular graffiti, marks, imprints and layers act as a sketchbook of ideas for further works. I look at these marks left behind in the city and read them as a palimpsest. I choose specific sites to research that contribute to my work. Derelict sites are of interest due to the vast amount in my surrounding area and my urge to highlight this issue. Site orientated research has led me to a number of liminal spaces around Cork City, currently my research is based on the recently demolished R & H Hall at the Port of Cork. From working in such sites, I gather text from the property itself, either sprayed on a wall or words gathered from found content. While researching, I gather imagery from each site and translate these photographs into screen-prints. I use building material to create an immersive installation and to capture the essence of the urban scape. By combining these three elements I recreate a site within a studio space, capturing the energy of the city. I work with large scale and three dimensional pieces to represent the scale and abruptness of urban life.

Instagram: @melz.art.tingz Melmac17@icloud.com

Mary O’Leary.

I am Mary O'Leary, a video artist with an innovative approach to visual storytelling. I am passionate about pushing the boundaries of video art and creating experiences that captivate audiences. I constantly seek to expand my knowledge and grow as an artist, always looking for new ways to deepen my understanding of the medium and explore creative possibilities. Through my work, I aim to challenge perception and create thought- provoking pieces that invite viewers on a journey of discovery and reflection. I am dedicated to continuous learning and strive for artistic excellence in everything I create as I continue to push the boundaries of video art and make my mark on the art world. My artistic practice is a journey through the surreal and uncanny, delving into intimate and personal themes that resonate deeply within me. Through the medium of video, I aim to create art that transcends the ordinary, inviting viewers into a world of unease and mystery. Each piece is carefully created to provoke introspection and spark critical questioning, encouraging individuals to delve into the depths of their own thoughts and emotions. At the core of my work lies a desire to prompt contemplation on the profound implications of the narratives | weave. By challenging conventional perspectives and pushing boundaries, I aim to ignite curiosity and inspire a spirit of exploration in those who engage with my art. While I understand that not every viewer may fully grasp the intricacies of my artistic vision, I believe in the power of connection and the transformative impact of shared experiences. It is through these connections with individuals, those who resonate with and appreciate the essence of my creations, that the true significance of my artistry is revealed. The exchange of ideas, emotions, and interpretations enriches the creative process, breathing life into each piece and infusing it with a sense of purpose and meaning. As my work navigates the complex landscape of my own artistic expression, I am constantly inspired by the diverse perspectives and insights that others bring to my work. Through my exploration of the surreal and uncanny, I seek to challenge perceptions, provoke thought, and evoke emotions that linger long after the screen fades to black. Each video is a canvas upon which I paint my innermost thoughts and feelings, inviting viewers to join me on a journey of discovery and self-reflection. It is my hope that through my art, I can spark conversations, inspire change, and forge connections that transcend the boundaries of language and culture. Aesthetically Pleasing (2024) The concept of women's beauty has long been a focal point in society, with standards evolving over time to encompass various aspects such as body size, makeup usage, and hair grooming. Women often internalize these societal expectations, feeling compelled to strive for an unattainable ideal of perfection. This relentless pursuit of flawlessness can lead to a detrimental cycle wherein the sacrifices and efforts made to meet these standards go unnoticed, perpetuating an unhealthy cycle of seeking validation through conformity to societal norms. This complex interplay between personal expectations and external pressures underscores the need for a more nuanced understanding of beauty and self-worth beyond superficial appearances.

Instagram: @maryolearyart

Róisín Mohally

My work presents a series of vessels that act as a metaphor for grief. I view a vessel as an empty space that suggests the absence of a memory, person, object or feeling. My practice explores the dichotomy between comfort and discomfort and confronts the viewer in a direct way. My material led process utilises marks, folds, tears and shapes within clothing to reveal the traces of a person. I believe that we become attached to a person's clothing after they pass and that such material has the capacity to reveal a shape, tell a story and retain a memory of a life. The use of soft materials and processes like crochet and knitting are juxtaposed with hard materials like chains, poles, wire and welded metal. Long layers of printed matter reveal unravelling sculptural forms which evoke knots, and reflect a memory or time lapse within my practice.

Instagram: @roisinmohally_art

Jemima Recks

This work investigates arenas of bodily agency and autonomy in image making. Questioning how the power over images of women’s bodies in particular, have been continually and unwilling ceded to societal demands that disempower the women concerned. Concepts of beauty and self-image in regard to how women are expected by society to be represented due to dominant hyper-feminisation. This project stems from my perspective as a woman politicised by my experience growing up amongst the exploitive media culture of the 2000s and forms a counter point to the prevailing emphasis of unrealistic beauty standards expected of women in the contemporary world. By physically responding to these topics through embodied drawing practices and methodologies, I use my own bodily experience through a direct engagement with materials and the use of performative drawing processes. By employing multiple drawing techniques and incorporating the body as a tool or site of exploration, I utilise a direct and expressive response to emphasise the research that underpins my work. My drawings are a form of rebuttal to the patriarchal attitudes which have been embedded within western culture. This work contributes to the discourse that counteract the acceleration of AI imaging technologies that have exacerbated the promotion of hyper-sexualised images of women’s bodies.

Instagram: @jemimajayart.

Lynn O’Donovan

My work focuses on creating 3D sculptural objects using different materials and processes. These glass works were created while I was on my residency, during which I focused a lot on recycling. I utilised donated bottles, sheet glass, scraps from the workshop bins, and some of my left-over bits from 4th year. I wanted to see what I could create without purchasing any specific materials. During the processes I tested the compatibility of different glasses while fusing and slumping them, I hand cut and engraved 60 leaves, sliced up beer bottles and spent many hours on the flatbed grinder.

Website: www.lynnodonovanart.weebly.com | Instagram: @lynn_odonovan_

Saoirse Radford

My work aims to investigate the unconscious mind by means of building a world separate to that of the logical mind. Through my work, I am attempting to create a dialogue between the conscious and unconscious self by using methods related to automatism, constantly stepping away and refreshing the way that I create images. I have been using dreams as a means of research. I analyse and transfer the imagery contained in my dream journal, allowing a language of symbolism to form from these images. I work in layers, sometimes hiding the earlier images completely, forming an intricate world of shapes and symbols, using a combination of both painting and drawing. My work has elements of abstraction and realism which express the fleeting images that pass as we dream. The fast and direct medium of drawing has helped me capture these elusive images. I have been researching Sigmund Freud’s study of psychoanalysis and its subsequent effect on the Surrealist Movement from 1920-1950. Artists like Eileen Agar, Alice Rahon, and Leonora Carrington have influenced me in understanding the complex value of dreams and symbolism through art.

Instagram: @saoirseradford_art

Róisín Kelly

I use my art practise to interact with the world around me, and to explore a sense of place - the connections developed between people and places. My goal is to have a sustainable, ecofriendly art practise. I use natural materials and limit harmful materials and practises when making my work. The Lonán bird series was inspired by the variety and diversity of life found within hedgerows. I find working with natural materials allows me to directly interact with the places that inspire my work. I believe hedgerows are a quintessential part of the Irish landscape. The goal of the Lonán series is to celebrate them and the life they sustain. Bio Roisin Kelly is a ceramic and textile artist, based in Cork City. Sustainability is of the upmost importance to Roisin. As such, this artist pursues low impact methods of art making, such as natural dyeing and eco printing, as well as making conscious decisions within her ceramics work to create work in an eco-friendly manner as possible. Roisin’s main inspirations come from the everyday scenes in nature that surrounds us, and fantastical myths that she read as a child.

Instagram: @roisin_makes

Jenny Fitzgerald

Jen MacGearailt is an emerging visual artist who predominantly works within the medium of oil paint. MacGearailt’s work explores the forgotten women of history, identifying and highlighting their significant contributions to society. This research began during her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art in The Crawford College of Art and Design in Cork, Ireland. MacGearailt noticed the vacuum of women written in history while writing her final year thesis ‘Sexual violence depicted in Renaissance paintings’ and started to look at the absence of women within her own Irish heritage. During the centenary of the of the 1922 Civil War in Ireland, Jen MacGearailt researched the women involved in the 1916-1922 Irish revolution and discovered a vast amount of women that took part both on the front line and in the background with fundraising, message carrying, and receiving information from the opposing side. Influenced by the style of Sean Keating’s work, the impressionists such as Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Renoir, and the Classical traditional style of Artemisia Gentileschi, Carravagio and Eugene De Blaas. Combining the traditional painterly style with contemporary concepts and influences such as Paula Reggo, Nancy Spero and Caroline Walker. Under these inspirations, MacGearailt aims to create an amalgamation of both the traditional and contemporary to achieve her own personal style. Her current body of work is now exploring existing women of Ireland as she has begun interviewing older women and collecting the stories of their lives. The difficulties and struggles these women faced in a suppressed Catholic Ireland, mostly in poverty due to extremely large families and the inability for women to work when married up until 1970. She has been interviewing a nun of The Nano Nagle, Presentation sisters, Sister Patricia O’Shea and has discovered the impressive contributions she has made during her life time. This research has allowed Jen MacGearailt to capture the identity and personality of each women and also for the women to write their own story. These stories are then translated to the general public through the medium of oil paint on canvas and showcased through an installation of both research and artwork.

Instagram: @jen_macgearailtartist Website: www.JenMacGearailt.com