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Ireland
I am a fine print artist from Celbridge, in Ireland. I spent many years in a textile based business in my early career before studying visual art in the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. As part of my interest in all types of papers and all fabrics and textures …I play with how I can explore and expand these; to print on and make new grounds from these mediums. This often includes soft sculptural works that are site specific and on occasion, temporary installations.
I recently spent four year in the Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education in Maynooth University. Two of these years were as YPCE Artist in Residency, in partnership with the Arts Council of Ireland, working with staff and students.
Reflecting of my time there, I have been working on a new thread of inquiry to explore and visually document the many moments of connection and exchange.
My plan is to continue this exploration and documentation in relation to Loulé, in response to Loulé Creativo, the town of Loulé and its inhabitants as well as the other Paper Camp residents and staff. I have no plan for how that might present itself however it will become clear after spending a little time there.
Marks as whispers of presence
Tracing the echoes of our presence—marks left behind in moments of contact and exchange, whether fleeting or profound. Each interaction, accidental or intentional, carries with it a residue: a gesture repeated, a movement etched into surface or memory. These traces are captured through paper, thread, mark-making and print, weaving them with other materials, allowing the unseen rhythms of encounter to become visible.
I was delighted to have the exciting opportunity to join Paper Camp Berlin, in Loulé
September 2025. I have very much enjoyed the paper camp, the weather and a
wonderfully diverse group of creatives. I know I have made new friends for life.
I learned a variety of techniques for paper pulp making and proceeded to explore
various skills to use the pulp creatively within my practice. This included paper
casting skills and making small scale sculptural pieces. These experiments which
were supported by Guy from Paper Camp are only the beginning of a new way of
working for me. I include an image of some paper castings I made of seed pods from
the Jacaranda tree. The seed pods are currently dry and woody with a very hard
brown shell, ranging in size from 5- 8 cm wide . They resemble large oyster shell
except that they have curved wavy edges. The Jacaranda trees beside our hotel are
abundant with the seed pods this week.
The theme of my work during Paper Camp is on memory and connection, both
tangible and intangible elements.
Follow on research
I am searching for a tree that already tells its own story through seed pods. A tree that scatters memory, possibility, and renewal into the air. My artworks will join this natural gesture and quiet conversation: new paper seed pods, handmade and suspended from its branches, swaying among the trees natural ones.
The paper pods will echo the tree’s natural rhythms, not replacing but expanding them — an imagined continuation of its cycle. They will act as whispers of potential, seeds that hold not only growth but also ideas, dreams, memories and messages left to the wind.
To find such a tree is to find a collaborator. I’m looking for one with branches that welcome a gentle transformation, a living frame for something ephemeral.
Together, the tree and the artwork will hold a dialogue between the natural and the hand sculpted, between the seeds of the earth and the seeds of thought, memory, possibility and imagination.
This work will pair a tree’s natural seed pods with handmade paper pods, suspended among its branches. Paper, itself born of trees, will return here transformed into new vessels of possibility. The installation will highlight a dialogue between nature and imagination, where both real and crafted seeds gesture toward futures yet to come.