Artist Statement

‘Idée Fixe’, 2016

h20 x w120 x d5cm

Box cast screen printed glass and ceramic decals

My practice is rooted in a lifelong fascination with textiles, clothing, and the intimate histories they hold. Fabric, for me, is far more than material; it is a vessel of memory, carrying traces of its maker and wearer alike. Within its weave, personal histories are preserved, connecting the physical object to emotional inheritance, family lineage, and collective remembrance.

My enduring relationship with cloth and embroidery began through family heirlooms, particularly a christening robe that had been passed down through generations for over a century. This garment became the catalyst for a significant body of work exploring ancestry, inheritance, and the fragile threads that bind past to present. Through this process, I examined the delicate parallels between birth and death, recognizing both as profoundly vulnerable states. The recurring motif of the “little dress” emerged from this exploration—an object simultaneously personal and universal, capable of evoking innocence, loss, memory, and identity. These sculptural garments became metaphors through which I could address broader social, political, and emotional narratives.

In more recent projects, including (A)dressing Our Hidden Truths at the National Museum of Ireland, my work has expanded into confronting difficult national histories. My practice engages with Ireland’s legacy of institutional abuse within Mother and Baby Homes, Industrial Schools, and Magdalene Laundries—systems in which women and children were hidden, silenced, and stripped of autonomy. Through my work, art becomes a space for witnessing and reflection, offering both personal and collective pathways to confront trauma. I see creative practice as a powerful means of examining unresolved histories, fostering dialogue, compassion, and deeper understanding where silence once prevailed.

Glass has become my chosen medium because it embodies contradiction in ways that closely parallel the human experience. Simultaneously fragile and resilient, opaque and transparent, ordinary and extraordinary, glass allows me to materialize complex emotional and historical narratives with extraordinary sensitivity. Its translucent qualities suggest both presence and absence, revelation and concealment—making it uniquely suited to my exploration of memory, identity, and hidden truths.

As my practice evolves, I am increasingly drawn to the intersections between disciplines. By incorporating collaboration through performance, film, and sound, I continue to expand the possibilities of storytelling beyond static object-making. This interdisciplinary approach deepens my investigation into how histories are embodied, remembered, and shared.

Ultimately, my work transforms personal artifacts into powerful cultural symbols. Through the language of clothing, textile memory, and glass, I create poignant spaces where fragility becomes strength, silence becomes voice, and forgotten histories are made visible.