The NSF is delighted to present the recipients of our 2019 graduate residency awards from CIT Crawford College of Art & Design, Limerick School of Art and Design, and Waterford Institute of Technology.

Since its inception, the National Sculpture Factory’s primary objective has been to support the talents of artists, at all stages of their careers in exploring and developing their practice of art-making in all their forms of expression and production. To this end, we have developed a very successful core programmatic strategy which creates the time and space for young artists to professionalise their practice straight out of college in a supportive and productive environment.

This year, we have given 4 graduate residency awards to 3 art colleges; CIT Crawford College of Art & Design; Limerick School of Art & Design and Waterford Institute of Technology. Residency awards range from free studio rental for 3-6 months with some material stipends; technical and administrative support; curatorial and peer support; mentorship and free access to a number of our educational & technical workshops/lectures. Successful candidates are selected based solely on the merit and potential of their practice, often in consultation with their college lecturers.

Bríd Murphy – LSAD

“In my work, I attempt to physicalize intangible emotions caused by perceptions of being imprisoned in both physical space and by negative mental state. I challenge traditional notions of gender norms through video portraiture, installation and sound.”

Jordy Brown – CIT CCAD

“My work explores a relationship between materials, cultural heritage, travel and entanglement. The sculptures are made from rusted metal bars often with imagery of travelled landscapes projected onto the sculptures to create a mass of entangled shadows.”

Michael Healy – CIT CCAD

“This body of work is a research into Mortality and Time, aspects of the human condition common to everyone’s life. These pieces are a mediation between a personal and the universal experience of these certainties.”

Ann-Marie Kirwan – WIT

“My work explores the relationship between materials and the emotional memory. Using marks, shapes and stains that suggest something abstract. I think of my art as unfinished fragments. This requires the viewers own touch to engage with the work. Representing a journey from chaos into line shape form and content, from the mind’s eye onto the visual surface.”