I am a visual artist of 20 years’ experience and a community artist since 2013. I have worked on textile and short film projects and facilitated creative processes for groups. I look to maintain high levels of professionalism and respect in my practice with a consistent attention to detail. I enjoy working with both the textures of materials and experiences, finding beauty in unexpected places.
I hold professional qualifications in both Art / Design / Multi Media and Fibre Art and have developed my practice through a distinct set of initiatives, including:
Film Work
- The Blocks Part 1, 2 and 3, animated short film project with artist Gary Gowran and City of Dublin ETB, Canal Communities LDATF, Rialto Community Drug Team. Screening events including Culture Date with Dublin 8, Rialto Community Arts Festival and Living Canvas at the Irish Museum of Modern Art for The Liberties Festival. (2018 – 2026)
- Runners: A Trafficking Timeline (2023 – 2024), animated short film project with artist Gary Gowran, Inner City Organisations Network (ICON) and partners.
- Building Voices Project (2022 – 2023), animated short film project with artist Gary Gowran and Clondalkin Drug and Alcohol Task Force Community Reps Forum supported by CREATE.
- Turning Down the Volume (2021), a short film building on a research paper commissioned by the Canal Communities and Dublin 12 Drugs and Alcohol Task Forces looking at the rise in availability of alcohol in their areas. Turning Down the Volume illustrates this growth alongside communicating the impact felt by the individuals, families and workers affected by it.
- Sound Holds the Distance Travelled (2018), a three minute animated short film exploring themes of identity, dynamics of space and self care through creativity.
Community art
- Selected to be on Dublin City Council Culture Company National Neighbourhood and Richmond Barracks Artist and Facilitator panel (2024 – 2027)
- Roderic O’Connor and the Moderns Fun Palace interactive art event at the National Gallery of Ireland, a collaborative community art project between the MAGS group and Rialto Youth Project (2018)
- Alight, Awaken, Arise, a visual art piece created as part of the MAGS group, an offshoot of leaders from the Knitted Together project with a performance art piece held in The Wisdom Centre, Sophia Housing (2017)
- Commissioned artist and performer in The Natural History of Hope in collaboration with Rialto Youth Project, Fiona Whelan and Broken Talkers (2016)
- The Knitted Together Initiative with FGU in Fatima Mansions (2014-2015)
- Mainstream Quilt project with Rialto Youth Project (2015-2016)
- participant in The 77 Women Quilt project with artist Marja Almqvist (2015-2016)
- the Medal of Honour Project a community partnership with NCAD (2013-2014)
- Big Sparkle Arts Event in The Helix (2014-2017)
- Ballet Ireland Summer School in Civic Theatre, Tallaght (2010)
Theatre
- Polar Bear and Penguin (2021 – 2024), video design and projection for theatrical production, Paul Curley and John Currivan.
- Clouds and Boulders: Mapping Terrain (2020), commissioned to create animation and projection map footage for the Dance production ‘’, Attic Projects, Luke Murphy at Kilkenny Arts Festival.
- The Examination (2019), production assistant to Gary Gowran on animation and film content for the theatrical production, Broken Talkers Theatre Company in collaboration with UCD School of History and The Wellcome Trust. Awarded best production at the Dublin Fringe Festival 2019, winner of Best Production at The Irish Times Theatre Awards 2020.
- commissioned artist and performer in The Natural History of Hope in collaboration with Rialto Youth Project, Fiona Whelan and Broken Talkers (2016)
Exhibitions
Art piece Necessary Skills Learned the Hard Way exhibited in The Stitch That Bit Back textile art exhibition as part of Fringe Arts Bath, UK (May – June 2026)
The Splitting Borders web comic and related publications have been featured in the Dublin Zine Fair; MCM Comic – Con; Temple Bar Gallery Artists Book Fair; Visual Artists Ireland Get Together; Independents Day; the Mountains to Sea Dun Laoghaire Book Festival and the Alliance Francaise/Comics Lab Festival de la Bandes Dessinee.
I produce a unique range of affordable arts pieces that have found outlet through engaging in a wide range of art / craft markets and fairs including the Georges Street Arcade; the Blackrock Market; Christmas Craft Fairs in Irish Life and the Point Village; The Dublin Flea Market and the The Fusion Market.
My community based / collaborative practices have been shown through;
- the Contemporary Self Portrait Exhibition in the NCAD Gallery (2014);
- the Its in the Making Exhibition in the F2 Arts Studio (2014);
- Knitted Together Phase One and Two Exhibitions in the F2 Centre (2014);
- Contemporary Self Portrait Exhibition in the EU House, Dawson Street (2015);
- Dublin Calling Exhibition and two day residency in Dublin’s Mansion House (2015);
- Where the HeArt Is Exhibition with The Irish Housing Network in 12 Henrietta Street (2016);
- The Natural History of Hope, three performances in the Project Arts Centre (2016);
- Alight, Awaken, Arise, art performance at Sophia Housing (2017)
Web comic
I began the web-comic called Splitting Borders in early 2013 with creative partner Gary Gowran, where a new comic strip was produced on-line everyday Monday through Friday. The first fifty of the strips have been published into two volumes, then a Splitting Borders Alphabet Book and Splitting Borders: Curated Lines, a themed selection. They have to date produced 363 separate strips. They then began a series of short stories, The Melancholic Wife and her Perpetrating Husband, under the Splitting Borders banner. There have been seven episodes so far examining themes of assigning labels and identity. The work continued into the production of a short animation film entitled Sound Holds the Distance Travelled, an adaptation of one of our comic short stories.
