Moving away from traditional religious structures, the featured works in the exhibition draw on pre-Christian practices, folklore, and reimagined religious symbols to address contemporary environmental, political, and existential uncertainties.

Through sound, ritual objects, sacred geometry, archetypal imagery, and a renewed connection to the land, the gallery is transformed into a contemplative space where art and worship intersect.

Featuring artists from Ireland and Poland, two cultures shaped by Catholicism and enduring folk traditions, the exhibition reflects a shared return to myth, ritual, and the sacred as ways of navigating the present moment.

Featured Artists:

Sam Comerford

Sam Comerford is an artist from Kilkenny, Ireland, and a graduate of the Limerick School of Art and Design, where she returned to study after a period dedicated to recovery from addiction. Her practice is shaped by themes of transformation, faith, and mysticism. In her final year at LSAD, Comerford expanded into textiles and installation, while continuing to work with screen print and photography. Interested in enchantment and multimedia approaches, she creates immersive, contemplative environments that function as contemporary shrines. Her work reflects on mortality, hope, and spiritual transformation, drawing inspiration from Catholic mysticism, folk Christian practices, medieval manuscripts and religious iconography.

Fionn Mac Tiomáin

Fionn Mac Tiomáin is a Waterford-based artist working primarily in sculpture, supported by video and sound. His practice considers our relationship with the landscape by addressing and reinterpreting references to Irish folklore and ancient Irish megalithic forms, such as stone circles. Working primarily with ancient bog oak – a material that would have been alive in the landscape during the construction of these ancient sites – his sculptures draw on the symbolism of the circle and the Sacred Oak Tree, often referred to in Irish mythology.

Mac Tiomáin’s research is informed by the writings of late Irish philosopher John Moriarty who drew his inspiration from the landscape, and the work of Irish writer and documentary maker Manchán Magan, who proposes mythology as an important knowledge formation, one that can offer a deeper insight into our environment.

Rónán Ó Raghallaigh

Rónán Ó Raghallaigh is an artist and researcher based in County Kildare, Ireland. His practice encompasses painting, writing, performance and develops decolonial relationships with folklore, land, and language, engaging with suppressed histories, layered memory and hybrid identities. Moving between studio-based and site-specific contexts, he prioritises process, improvisation, and intuition, often drawing on ritual and trance states.  His practice explores cultural exchange, animism, and folk practices as pathways toward ecological awareness and collective healing. Re-learning Irish in adulthood, Ó Raghallaigh incorporates the language during performances, for work-titles and alongside English and vernacular dialect in writing.

Lara Quinn

Lara Quinn is an artist based in Cork City, working across oil painting, performance, and film. Informed by art movements such as magic-realism, her work harnesses mythological themes and art-historic symbolism to address autobiographical narratives concerning identity and womanhood. Often portraying herself as the character, Lilith, Quinn’s current practice harnesses mythological narratives and symbolism to procure a veiled reimagining of her own lived experiences. By reprising age-old myths in the context of the 21st century, she hopes to reaffirm the significance of mythology today as a universally accessible tool to explore both cultural and personal identities.

Zuzanna Romańska

Zuzanna Romańska is an artist based in Krakow, Poland. Her practice spans painting, drawing, object-making, video, music, and poetry. Her focus lies in constructing a personal cosmogony as a bridge between intimate experience and broader mythological narratives. Drawing upon Aby Warburg’s legacy, she creates her own “wandering images”, archetypal figures that transcend boundaries of time, space, and species, weaving together diverse traditions and sources. Alongside her visual work, she is developing a poetic mythology that grows in parallel with her artistic practice. Her inspirations include medieval illuminations, folk and esoteric art, avant-garde music, as well as poetic and experimental cinema.

Milan Zientara

Milan Zientara is a fifth-year painting student at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow and artist working with painting and sculptural materials.

In his paintings and sculptures, the body becomes a battlefield of instincts and hidden fantasies. He focuses on the biological flexibility of the body and its cultural construction. Inspired by camp horror cinema and pop culture forms of ritual, he analyses violence, sexuality, and transformation as tools for redefining the modern human. He works with ready-made materials, often utilising found furniture, jewellery, and fabrics.

About the curators:

GOMA Waterford’s Emerging Curator Awardees 2026

Anna Jeznach is a Dublin-based curator working in the Collections Department at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Her curatorial practice focuses on performance art, exploring the role of nature and personal ritual. In 2025, she curated a major retrospective of pioneering Polish performance artist Zbigniew Warpechowski. Previously, she worked at MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow, where she curated exhibitions, conducted artist interviews, and initiated the museum’s first international art competition. Her approach is grounded in long-term collaboration and mutual support.

Ciara Magee is a visual arts producer and curator with a background in art management and education. She works in the Art Management Department at the Office of Public Works and is currently co-director of Basic Space.  Ciara is committed to supporting emerging artists through meaningful platforms and developmental opportunities. Her curatorial research examines Pagan and Druid traditions in Ireland, exploring their continued presence through landscape, folklore, and cultural heritage.

Anna and Ciara’s collaborative curatorial practice emerged from shared research interests and an awareness of the pressures shaping the contemporary art landscape. Their work prioritises sustained dialogue, mentorship, and care, with a strong focus on supporting emerging artistic practices.