Artist statement
I am a visual artist currently based in Moray, Scotland. I graduated from Sculpture in NCAD, Dublin in 2011. I am co-Founder of Forerunner Collaborative Art Practice which began in 2016.
In my individual practice I investigate man-made marks on the landscape and in the built environment. I explore their functions and materiality, how and why they have come to exist and how they have adapted over time. I like to seek new opportunities in their architecture, finding abstract nooks and places that lie outside of the frame of visible functionality. I consider new places here that offer alternative perspectives to the environment within which they exist.
I make structures and systems that offer access to these spaces. They often resemble scaffoldings, excavations or foundations. I use commonplace building materials; wood, metal and concrete. The materials are used honestly. They do not hide their function and act as a language for navigation of the work. The works are not monumental, instead they are domestic in scale and do not draw attention to themselves allowing the viewer to happen upon them.
Collaboration is instrumental to my practice and I have developed a close working relationship with fellow artists Tanad Aaron and Andreas Kindler Von Knobloch, whether supporting each other’s individual practices or working together on formal collaborations. We are currently making artwork together under the banner Forerunner. Our collaborative practice architecturally interrogates fine art or specific objects or spaces built for or against a function. We commonly refer to our exhibitions as tests, tests for the real world, tests for a future context and opportunities to try a different material or technique.
I have exhibited nationally and internationally and have permanent outdoor installations in the UK and France. Recent projects include Boom Nouveau, a new public artwork for Cork City, Granite Leap, the inaugural commission for Kunstverein Aughrim, Wicklow, 2022. YOUNGFOSSIL commissioned by IMMA for the IMMA Outdoor program in the summer of 2022. Dubliners, 6th Biennial of Painting, HDLU in Zagreb with Pallas Projects in 2021. Office Of the Rest, commissioned for VOID Gallery, Derry, UK, 2021. Renovations to arena, a permanent artwork commissioned for the courtyard of the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, France, 2021. Dearly Beloved, We Are Gathered Here Today, VISUAL Carlow, Ireland, 2019. A temporary public artwork on the cliffs, Findhorn Bay Arts Festival, Moray, Scotland, 2018.