Statement of Practice

I explore concepts of failure through installation using a combination of sculpture, live sound, light, moving image and kinetics.

My installations are the result of material experiments that often operate within a live state of malfunction or instability. Underpinning the precarious nature of these works is an exploration of the concept of failure, trial, and human endeavor as both every day and existential experiences. This often translates to an exploration of material possibility and impossibility through scale, engineering, process, and site. Because of this there must always be some element of discovery for me in the concept and creation of the works, and the possibility of using ‘failure’ as a positive and critical space that reflects risk, uncertainty, and a human drive to discover.

I use technology as an interface between a material and its conditions, and to interfere with its material state. I build a psychological charge into the experience of the artwork through relationships between the physics of the material and the engineering of the installation. Often, unexpected aspects develop through this system that become primary to the work, such as sound, smell or the after-image.

Although my perspective is dystopian, it is not without humour.

Biography

I am a contemporary artist based between the UK and Ireland. I work with installation using a combination of sculpture, live sound, light, moving image and kinetics. My approach is experimental and explores ideas of failure through artworks that operate within a live state of malfunction or breakdown.

I have won significant public funding for my work from state bodies such as Arts Council England, the Arts Council of Ireland, Arts and Humanities Research Board UK, and Irish Research Council. I have also received research funding from The Slade School of Art, London and Trinity College Dublin.

As well as an extensive exhibitions record, I have completed numerous international artist residencies including the Irish Museum of Modern Art; Helsinki International Artist Programme with Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, Dublin; Centre Cultural Irlandais in Paris; and Fire Station Artists Studios, Dublin.

My work is held in public collections including the Arts Council of Ireland; Allied Irish Bank; GE Aviation; and AXA Insurance.

I am currently a studio artist with Rogue Studios, Manchester and on the Board of Trustees for The Royal Standard Studios and Gallery, Liverpool. I am also an artist collaborator with Paralab art/ science group based in Manchester.

Currently, I work as a Subject Moderator in Art across colleges in the UK North West. I am a former lecturer in fine art with National College of Art & Design, Dublin, and with Crawford College of Art & Design, Cork (2004-2022).