Student Forum Group 2020|2021

Lauren Conway

Lauren Conway is a final year art student at IADT, based in Dublin, Ireland. She predominantly works through the mediums of drawing, writing and performance action. At present, she is exploring the history, imagery and consequences of second level education in Ireland, with particular attention to the Leaving Certificate. Lauren is a member of cruxx.project, a collective and curatorial platform formed by recent IADT graduates. Selected group exhibitions include Under the Seams Runs the Pain, Ex Lab, Helsinki, (2020) From Home, Tasku Gallery, Helsinki, (2020) How’s Your Da? MLV Studios, Dublin, (2019) and in Red Bird Collective exhibitions at Galway Arts Centre from 2014 – 2016 with artists Maeve Clancy, Siobhan McGibbon, Ruby Wallis. She has given readings at the Dublin Art Book Fair, The Royal Irish Academy and was part of the artist’s discussion Agitating Space – Extending Architecture w/Ruby Wallis, Roisin Coyle and Gerald Glynn at GAC in 2016. In 2020 Lauren’s first solo show, Testing at Kirjasto Kuvataideakatemia in Helsinki, was postponed in April due to the coronavirus pandemic; and she was shortlisted for the Science Gallery Dublin’s Rapid Residency Award the same year. Her writings have been published in Bloomers Art Magazine, RHA Young Art Writers Zine 2018, and as part of the online programme for cruxx.project, which is due for release in the coming months.

Ross Fraser-Smith

Ross Fraser-Smith is currently undertaking an M.Phil at Trinity College, Dublin, in Identities and Cultures of Europe, with a background in Comparative Literature. He is a writer interested in the interrelation of language, culture and identity, and the processes of identity formation in the public sphere through the mediums of literature and visual art. In a recent project, he edited the second edition of Irish writer John Holten’s experimental novel The Readymades (2019). He has worked at multiple galleries, in invigilation and curatorial duties; Orleans House Gallery, SW London; Broken Dimanche Press, Berlin; and at the community arts festival, Deptford X. As the founder of the literary magazine Factory, he is also a publisher and designer, and has worked with many writers and artists in the facilitation and publication of various artwork. This said, he conceptualises publishing as an artistic practice, and would like to see artist and gallery publications reach a wider audience in the multiple discourses surrounding contemporary art and literature. During his time on the Student Forum, he would like to see the DHG facilitate and engage with more public-facing and community-oriented projects, as a vital space of creative experimentation, participation and exchange.

Rachael Gunning

Rachael Gunning is a final year student in History of Art and Architecture at Trinity College Dublin, and her research is heavily influenced by her study of philosophy. Serving as this year’s chairperson of Trinity’s Visual Arts Society, she is tasked with the running of the society, conceptualising events and managing artworks for display. Her experience in the Trinity College Art Hire Scheme lent her a wealth of experience in handling works of art. She has a keen interest in art journalism and criticism, serving as the Art Editor for The University Times and having her work featured in The Irish Times. As the editor for the online publication POST-, she has written articles commenting on cultural matters including political art and display.

Aditi Kapoor

Aditi Kapoor is a writer and a visual artist. As a student of English Literature in the Dual B.A. Program between Trinity College Dublin and Columbia University, her literary work primarily focuses on postcolonial theory and specifically traces the remnants of Orientalism. As a filmmaker, Aditi is interested in curating the intimate into the familiar. In her previous work, she has explored the multifaceted nature of identity and the intersectionality of spaces through sensorial multimedia projects.

Ben Malcolmson

Ben Malcolmson is a photographer born and based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Ben works with photography, video and sculpture exploring alternative processes with relation to one’s land and identity. His practice further deals with the communication of the landscape, looking at the familiar and psychological complexities of the self with performative-based elements as an undertone. In 2019, Ben was selected to be part of Making Marks by the Arab British Centre, funded by the British Council Kuwait. Making Marks explored the impact of international working on emerging artists. Ben’s recent residency to Kuwait was one stage in the Making Marks project. Over several months, Ben worked with Belfast Exposed Gallery on a body of work titled Murmur which was exhibited in the Gallery as a solo show during February 2020. Ben has recently finished his Erasmus studies at The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague in Bachelor’s of Photography and will continue his previous studies, undertaking Bachelor’s of Photography with Video at Ulster University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, graduating in 2021.

Henry Martin

Henry Martin is a Ph.D. student in the School of Visual Culture at The National College of Art and Design, Dublin (NCAD). His research areas include Twentieth-Century American women art dealers, biography studies, creative writing, and the history of exhibitions, art collections, and museums. Author of Agnes Martin: Pioneer, Painter, Icon (Benjamin Franklin Award), Yappo (Tipperary Artist Award), and contributor to Great Women Artists (Phaidon), Henry has taught at Camberwell College of Arts, University for the Creative Arts, and NCAD. Henry is published by Hyperallergic, The Irish Times, Journal of Illustration, Gli Ori, and Routledge (forthcoming), and his plays have been performed at Theatre 503, Roundhouse, Underbelly, Fishamble, Bunker Theatre and Lime Tree Theatre. Henry is a 2021 Fulbright-Creative Ireland fellow at the Smithsonian Institution.

Rachael Melvin

Rachael Melvin is a recent graduate of Fine Art from the Dublin School of Creative Arts at Technological University Dublin. She is a multi-disciplinary artist, realising her work through sculpture, drawing and video. Her work explores the idea of the making and changing of space through the lens of culture and community. She is concerned with the rapid architectural changing of space throughout our communities, particularly Dublin city, of which she explores how we as people navigate through our city scape, dwelling in space for work, social, or residential purposes. She is also fascinated by the physicality of working with one’s hands, and often depicts intensive manual labour, food production and preparation throughout her work as a means to connect with a sense of communal identity that spans a multitude of cultures. Most recently, her practice has allowed her to collaborate with secondary school students via sculptural workshops, exploring the importance of community engaged art practices, and art’s accessibility.

Holly Moore

Holly Moore is a final year English literature student at Trinity, though until this year she studied art history too. She is writing her dissertation on the short stories of Lucia Berlin.

Dylan Mundy-Clowry

Dylan Mundy-Clowry is an Architecture graduate and Urbanist, employing architecture & urban designs’ unique capacity for shaping the world we want to live in as a means to satisfying and sustainable development. Research-led design and interdisciplinary collaboration underpin his experience in Asia, East-Africa and Europe. As a practitioner of design for social inclusion, he is determined to embed design-thinking into development practice and to drive the role art, design and performance has to play in creating resilient institutions, communities and cities. Dylan is currently pursuing a Masters in Development Practice at Trinity College Dublin. Research interests: Human Settlements, Informal Urbanism, Post-Colonial narratives, Incremental development, Spatial Justice, Architectural Typologies, STEAM Education, Cultural Activism.

Dianne Murphy

Dianne Murphy is a 2020 graduate of Art from Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT). She is a multidisciplinary artist whose work encompasses sculpture, video, scripting, installation and virtual reality. Her work at present examines the architecture of class in Dublin City, drawing comparisons between myths, gentrification and the“techno-utopian” fantasy of proposed regeneration sites. Their undergraduate thesis examined the evolving relationship between the gallery space and digital technologies such as virtual reality. She was one of the founders of IADT Exhibition Society and co-curated and organised events and exhibitions including How’s your Da?, (2019) in MLV Studios. Most recently she exhibited as part of the group show To Let, (2020) in Pallas Project and Studios. Dianne is also a member of the experimental curatorial platform cruxx.project.

Anna Nelson

Anna Nelson is a student at Trinity College Dublin, pursuing an MPhil in International Peace Studies. She has a background in sociocultural anthropology and intercultural peace-building and a dedicated interest in art as a method of large-scale communication in conflict. She has recently explored this interest in her position as the head of adult programming at the Weber County Library (UT, USA) where she created community arts programs exploring topics such as water rights and conservation, human trafficking, and confronting local histories of violence. Anna established the first art film club in the Ogden, Utah area, interned with the peace organisation Initiatives of Change International, and served on the editing team of the Kula Manu, a literary magazine. Her own artistic practice explores art as an exercise in building empathy and focuses mainly on abstract portraiture.

Jonathan O’Grady

Jonathan O’Grady is an artist currently in his final year at NCAD, where he studies Fine Art Media with Critical Cultures, and has previously studied at the University of Art and Design (HEAD) Geneva. His work mainly takes the form of moving image, photography and sculpture, and is a way for him to adopt a speculative stance in relation to fields of inquiry beyond it. Most recently, his work has dealt with the histories and legacies of settlement in County Kildare, and investigating mythology as a space for queer performance. He recently completed a photo-book titled Nutrients, an exploration of the Ancient Celtic ‘menhir’ or standing stones that dot the land around Ireland, which will be included in this year’s Dublin Art Book Fair at Temple Bar Gallery. He took part in the 2020 IMMA Summer School Art and Politics #2 Statecraft, and will also take part in the Young Art Writers Programme later this month. Most recent exhibitions have been SITE:SIGHT with Rosie Feerick at the Yellow Box, NCAD, and Co-Ownership (2019) at the Rupert Guinness Theatre.

Shaista Sosrowardoyo

Shaista Sosrowardoyo is a Malaysian-Indonesian MPhil Public History and Cultural Heritage student at Trinity College, Dublin, with a background in Anthropology. Their main research interests include the power of contemporary art to inform public historical understanding, the queering of visual culture, archiving, and curatorial practice, the decolonisation of art spaces, and the uses of non-conventional creative and interdisciplinary methods to engage wider audiences within the cultural sector. They are also undertaking ongoing video and photographic projects, exploring the importance of self-archiving and recording. In 2021, Shaista held the position of research intern at the Douglas Hyde Gallery, working closely with the Taking Part Project, researching non-visitors to galleries and other cultural sites. They aim to apply their public history background and rigorous ethnographic training to embark on a career in curation and cultural production that serves marginalised and underrepresented communities and audiences.

Luke van Gelderen

Luke van Gelderen is a visual artist based in Dublin. He is a 2020 graduate of Dún Laoghaire Institute Of Art Design + Technology’s BA Art Programme and was an Erasmus student in Iceland’s University of the Arts, BA Fine Art Programme. His practice encompasses video, performance and sculpture, focusing on how digital image cultures are performed in ways that alter memory and the self. He participated in The Personal, The Political and The Poetic, an intensive workshop with the performance artist Franko B and the 2020 IMMA Summer School Art and Politics #2 Statecraft. Luke has exhibited in Rua Red, Pallas Projects/Studios, Claremorris Open Exhibition, Hafnarborg (The Hafnarfjördur Centre of Culture and Fine Art), Iceland and the IAA Dublin Control Tower for Fingal Culture Night (2019). He was awarded the Rua Red Art Prize in 2018’s Winter Open resulting in a solo show (My Activity) in the gallery in 2019. His piece Chatroulette included a live stream performance as part of a solo show in K4 Galleri, Oslo Art Weekend, 2019. Luke is the recipient of the Ormond Art Studios Graduate Award (2020), culminating in a virtual solo show which was postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions. He is a co-founder of cruxx.project an experimental curatorial platform inspired by a ring-fort in South Dublin that seeks to expand strategies for the dual presentation of work in both the physical and virtual environment. In 2021 he will take up a 3 month internship in Aldea, (Centre for Contemporary art, Design and Technology) Bergen, Norway.