Working across painting and sculpture, Hazel O’Sullivan reimagines artefacts and art objects within an immersive retrofuturist narrative. Her paintings frequently interpret forts and mechanisms that open gateways to the mythological Otherworld as a way to connect with pre-colonisation. For Circa Ré, O’Sullivan’s sources include medieval and prehistoric objects, illuminated manuscripts, and sacred grounds. Soaking in this trove of archaeological and artistic references, O’Sullivan then manipulates colour, scale and perspective to create architectural compositions that tap into vernacular traditions and mythologies.

Core to the exhibition are a suite of eight modular paintings, Droichead na Sidhe, which interact to form two cohesive images when hung together. For these works, O’Sullivan draws upon decorative medieval folios to develop abstract forms. Rendered with contemporary painting techniques, the paintings become geometric, illusory – using a trompe-l’œil technique to open up spatial perception and depth.

Circa Ré also includes a triptych of three 300 x 250 cm paintings, the largest O’Sullivan has worked on to date. The central panel reimagines an 8th-century Celtic brooch, found in Lagore Crannog, Co Meath, and now in the British Museum. Through O’Sullivan’s transformations, this palm-sized but intricate object becomes monumental in scale, opened up to encompass a universe of its own, flanked by architectural motifs. Irish artefacts also inform three new sculptures, each based on copper alloy discs from the Iron Age, the original function of which are unknown. O’Sullivan renders them into smooth, monochrome device-like objects – as mysterious and otherworldly as their source material.

Hazel O’Sullivan, b. 1998, Co. Meath, Ireland, lives and works in East London.

Hazel O’Sullivan is a multi-disciplinary artist examining visual discourse from Irish culture. Her work imagines a combination of ancient and future narratives as artefacts, devices and mythological architecture through a retrofuturistic lens. Through drawing, painting, sculpture and curation, she explores symbolic materiality of Irish artefacts, reimagining them as both historical objects and speculative constructs. O’Sullivan has an MFA from Chelsea College of Arts, London (2023) and BFA from NCAD, Dublin (2021).

Current projects include Railway Bridge Commission 2025: Droichead na Sídhe, a site-specific public artwork commissioned by Focal Point Gallery, Essex, UK (19 July – 19 October 2025). Solo and two-person exhibitions include RETROFUTURE, The LAB Gallery, Dublin (2024); Harvest Gold, Solstice Arts Centre, Co. Meath; Cladding, with Charys Wilson, Catalyst Arts, Belfast (both 2023) and We Broke Our Backs Years Ago with Phillip Rhys Olney, Platform Arts, Belfast (2022). Recent group exhibitions include New Contemporaries, ICA, London; Good Eye Projects, Saatchi Gallery, London and Irish Art Now, Irish Embassy, London (all 2025).