Stolen Sealskin is a solo exhibition by Sarah Lou Kinneen, recipient of the Parallax Emerging Film Artist Bursary 2025, a collaboration between CIFF, National Sculpture Factory and Sample-Studios to champion emerging film artists and moving image work.

Stolen Sealskin reimagines the enduring Selkie legend through an immersive installation that drifts between myth and memory. The legend follows a shapeshifting seal-woman who becomes bound to land and severed from sea when her sealskin is stolen. Through moving image, sculpture and sound, Stolen Sealskin navigates autonomy, coercion, and biopolitics, drawing from folklore and cultural memory.

Established in 2022, the Parallax Award seeks out, supports and platforms graduate film artists from Irish fine art tertiary education institutions and is a collaboration between three significant arts-based organisations in Cork. Sarah Lou Kinneen, the 2025 recipient, received a €5000 bursary, Associate Membership with Sample-Studios, a studio in National Sculpture Factory, and an opportunity to present a solo exhibition in The Lord Mayor’s Pavilion as part of Cork Film Festival 2025.

Previous recipients of the Parallax Emerging Artist Award are MTU Crawford College of Art and Design Graduate, Myfanwy Frost-Jones (2022-23) and TUS Limerick School of Art and Design graduate Asha Murray (2023-24).