Working in sculpture, film and photography, Dorothy Cross examines the relationship between living beings and the natural world. Living in Connemara, a rural area on Ireland’s west coast, the artist sees the body and nature as sites of constant change, creation and destruction, new and old. This flux emerges as strange and unexpected encounters. Many of Cross’ works incorporate items found on the shore, including boats and animal skins, while others reflect on the environment. During the 1990s, the artist produced a series of works using cow udders, which drew on the animals’ rich store of symbolic associations across cultures to investigate the construction of sexuality and subjectivity.

Recent solo exhibitions/projects include I dreamt I dwelt, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, (2019); Heartship, Sounds from a Safe Harbor festival collaborative performance with Lisa Hannigan, Cork, Ireland (2019); Stalactite, Libby Leshgold Galley, Vancouver (2018); Glance, New Art Centre, Roche Court, UK (2017–18). Recent group exhibitions include Lucid abnormalities, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, Ireland (2020/21); other.worldly, Fries Museum, Leeuwarden, Netherlands (2020/21); ELLIPTICAL AFFINITIES: IRISH WOMEN ARTISTS AND THE POLITICS OF THE BODY, 1984 TO THE PRESENT, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Ireland (2020); Desire: A Revision From the 20th Century to the Digital Age, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Ireland (2019/20) and Sea Garden, Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, UK (2019). Cross has participated in the Venice, (1993), Istanbul, (1997) and Liverpool (1998) biennials, and the ground-breaking 1994 exhibition: Bad Girls, ICA, London and CCA, Glasgow