On this special episode opening Season 10, Caren Sullivan talks to Clodagh Lavelle, Emma Campbell and Thomas Wells, members of the collective Array Studios in 2021.

Winners of Turner Prize 2021, Array Collective are a group of individual artists rooted in Belfast, who join together to create collaborative actions in response to the sociopolitical issues affecting Northern Ireland. Array’s studios and project space in the city centre acts as a base for the collective, however the participating artists are not limited to studio holders. Array Collective are known for projects that support "gay rights, marriage equality, feminism, reproductive rights and anti-austerityactivism".

Array Collective's activities have included placard-making workshops and participating in activist events and demonstrations with elaborate costumes and props.

Collective members: Sighle Bhreathnach-Cashell, Sinead Bhreathnach-Cashell, Jane Butler, Emma Campbell, Alessia Cargnelli, Mitch Conlon, Clodagh Lavelle, Grace McMurray, Stephen Millar, Laura O'Connor, Thomas Wells

Selected recent works;

Array’s current show ‘The Goose and the Common', Rua Red, Feb 2025. 

An Dún, IMMA Dublin, 2024

Self-Determination: A Global Perspective, Interventions, IMMA Commissions 2023-24

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For more information, follow Array Studios/Collective on Instagram @arraystudios

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan talks to artist Maud Cotter in 2021.

Maud Cotter’s recent solo exhibitions include a consequence of –, at The Irish Arts Center, New York, 2022; what was never ours to keep, at MOCA, Jacksonville, Florida, 2022; a consequence of – a dappled world, at The Hugh Lane, Dublin, 2021; a consequence of – a breather of air, at The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon, 2019; a consequence of – without stilling, at Limerick City Gallery of Art, 2018; Matter of Fact, at domobaal gallery, London, 2016. Current and recent group exhibitions include: Contradictory Senses, at Lismore Castle Arts, 2022; The Twin, Coventry Biennale of Contemporary Art, Coventry, UK, 2019; backyard sculpture, at domobaal gallery, London, 2019; 2116: Forecast of the next century, at Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork, 2016 touring to Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, MI, USA.  

She lives and works in Cork, Ireland. Cotter has lectured in Art and Architectural Colleges in Europe and America. She is co-founder of the National Sculpture Factory and a member of Aosdana. Her practice is represented by domobaal gallery.

Artist’s statement “I like to think of the gallery as a mercurial landscape of the mind, a place where matter and consciousness mingle. The work seeks to assert the importance of this duo of forces, cerebrally presented and fully existing emotionally at the same time, connecting our bodies with our minds. I strive to use this kind of interactive intelligence as a totality of force, one that is necessary to intuit and explore changing spatiality and understandings. The work seeks to unsettle the conventional account of reality, the cul de sac spun by corporate values, so vividly and forcefully delivered to our minds through contemporary culture; to build an adaptive and sustainable relationship with the world we inhabit.

The work explores material reality as one of compliance and contradiction, one in which no rule applies. In this world of upheaval, lies an endless range of evolving possibilities which can become manifest visually through the enactment of will within the agency of matter.

Macrophysicality finds its point of incision; conscious and insightful, it enters the molecularly complex world of the object. These actions orchestrate new formation in that amorphous bank of matter behind appearance – consciousness modelling form. Interiority within an exterior condition.”__Maud Cotter.

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For more information, follow Maud Cotter on Instagram @maudcotter

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan Talks to artist Vera Klute in 2021.

Vera Klute is a visual artist based in Co. Kilkenny. She was born in Germany but lives in Ireland since 2001. Her work utilises a range of different media such as sculpture, painting, drawing and video animation. 

Themes span from formal portraiture and public sculpture to kinetic installation. She is always interested in exploring new materials and processes and in this way her work has taken many different incarnations over the years.

She has exhibited widely in Ireland and abroad since graduating from IADT in 2006, including solo exhibitions at the RHA, the Butler Gallery, Limerick City Gallery (2-person show), the Molesworth Gallery, QSS Gallery and the LAB.

Her work is represented in many collections, including the National Gallery of Ireland, the Office of Public Works and the Arts Council and she has won numerous awards. These include the Anita Young Award (2022) and the Hanley Energy Sustainability Excellence Award (2021), the Solomon Fine Art Award for sculpture (2020), the Hennessy Portrait Prize at the National Gallery and the Hennessy Craig Scholarship at the RHA (both 2015), the K+M Evans Award (2013) and the EVA Award at Wexford Arts Centre (2009).

She has received several Arts Council Bursary Awards and was elected Associate Member of the RHA in 2018 and is a full member since 2023. 

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For more information, follow Vera Klute on Instagram @veraklute1

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan talks to artist John Graham in 2021.

John Graham graduated from the NCAD with a BA in 1993 and an MFA in 2006.

With a foundation in drawing and printmaking, his practice has included video and sound installations, writing and curatorial projects. He has exhibited widely in Ireland and internationally, most prominently with Green on Red Gallery, Dublin and Yanagisawa Gallery, Saitama, Japan. Public collections include the Irish Museum of Modern Art, National Gallery of Ireland, Arts Council of Ireland, Chester Beatty Library, University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin and New York Public Library. His writing has appeared in artists’ books and gallery publications.

His exhibition reviews are published by the Visual Artists’ News Sheet, Enclave Review, Art Monthly, Paper Visual Art Journal and Mirror Lamp Press, among others. After lecturing for more than twenty years, he finished teaching in the Yeats Academy of Arts, Design and Architecture (YAADA) at the Atlantic Technological University, Sligo, in September 2023.

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For more information, follow John Graham on Instagram @johngrahamdublin

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan talks to award winner Irish film director, producer and leading advocate for rewilding, Randal Plunkett in 2021.

Randal Plunkett, 21st Baron of Dunsany, is an Irish filmmaker, landowner and rewilding advocate. Plunkett is the holder of a peerage title, and holds Dunsany Castle, one of the longest-inhabited houses in Ireland, and its remaining estate.

Plunkett succeeded to the Dunsany title upon the death of his father in 2011. In his professional life, he has directed a range of film shorts, worked on several dozen other film projects, and provided location and post-production services from his demesne. He produced his first feature film, The Green Sea, in 2018–2019 and released it in 2021. Plunkett became an advocate for rewilding in 2014 and has dedicated around half of the ancestral estate in County Meath as Ireland's largest private nature reserve.

Plunkett began his filmmaking career around 2009, producing and directing a range of short films, which have been shown at various film festivals. His directorial debut was the thriller Kiss Kiss (2010), set in London, and shown at the Leicester Square Odeon. He then returned to Ireland, producing Guerrilla, directed by Blaine Rennicks and starring Jack Lowe and Darren Killeen, on the Dunsany lands from winter 2009. The low-budget film, with a crew of 40, was based on a concept of Ireland under martial law after social collapse in Europe in 2013, and was released in 2010.

This was followed by the horror film Prey(2011). Plunkett's 4th short film, written with some autobiographical elements, was Walt(2011). Plunkett has used his estate lands and buildings, some partly ruinous, as locations for much of his filming after Guerrilla, including for Prey and Walt. Plunkett received external private funding for his next film, a post-apocalyptic horror movie titled Out There, co-writing the script with his brother Oliver. Out There was awarded Best Industry Short at the Limerick Film Festival as well as Best Short Movie at a festival in Germany. Subsequently, it was selected to play Cannes Film Festival.

In 2010, Plunkett established Dunsany Productions, a film production company, at Dunsany Castle. He worked on more than 40 film projects in Ireland, in various production roles, and in post-production at his facilities at Dunsany, while looking to produce longer work of his own.

Plunkett's first feature-length film, the drama The Green Sea, was filmed in Mullingar, County Westmeath, Dublin, at Brittas Bay in County Wicklow, and at Dunsany, where one lodge was painted black for the production; about half the scenes were from Mullingar. It was filmed and produced 2018–2019 but only released, after Covid-related delays, mid-2021. Plunkett was director, scriptwriter and executive producer. Plunkett performed the editing himself, alongside Chris Gill. Plunkett has described the film as having semi-autobiographical influences.

Plunkett's work and the film itself were awarded as Best Feature Film at the Paris Play Film Festival, April 2021, Best Indie Feature Film and Best Feature Script at the Florence Film Awards, April 2021, and Best Production and Best Editing at the New York Movie Awards, April 2021.

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For more information, Follow Randal Plunkett on Instagram @randal_plunkett @dunsanynaturereserve

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan talks to film director, Glenn McQuaid in 2021.

Glenn McQuaid is an Irish film director. He is known for his feature film debut I Sell The Dead and his involvement in the audio play anthology series Tales From Beyond the Pale, both of which were produced by frequent collaborator Larry Fessenden's Glass Eye Pix. He has also directed a segment of anthology horror film V/H/S.

McQuaid began his career at Glass Eye Pix, where he performed visual effects on films such as The Roost (2005) and The Last Winter(2006). Inspired by the muted reception of one of his short films, he made his feature film debut, I Sell the Dead (2008), more comedic. He cites David Cronenberg as an influence.

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 73% approval score based on 44 reviews. After I Sell the Dead, he worked on the segment Tuesday the 17th in V/H/S, a 2012 horror anthology film. The short was inspired by his enjoyment of early 1980s slasher films. In 2014, he directed The Trouble with Dad, a segment in another horror anthology film, Chilling Visions: 5 States of Fear.

McQuaid collaborated with Fessenden again on the audio play anthology series Tales From Beyond the Pale, which he co-created.

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For more information, follow Glenn McQuaid on Instagram @glenn_mcquaid @talesfrombeyondthepale

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan talks to artist Miguel Martin in 2021.

Miguel is a Belfast-born artist exploring identity, the uncanny, and liminal spaces through drawing, photography, sculpture, and installation. His work investigates how digital masks and everyday anomalies reshape perception, blending sincerity and irony to question authenticity in a digitised world. Collaboration and playful exchanges of imagery are central to his practice, creating dynamic spaces where meaning and connection remain fluid.

Visual artist, born Belfast, 1985
University of Ulster 2004 – 2008

Lives and works in Hastings
Learning and Participation assistant, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2024 Between Two Worlds, 5th Floor Gallery, East Sussex College, Hastings

2023 REAL MAGIC, Aspace Gallery, East Sussex College, Hastings

2020 Fire in the middle, The Naughton Gallery, Queen’s Univeristy, Belfast

Selected group Exhibitions

2024 The Last Off-Site Show On Earth At Plague and Everywhere (pt. 2), Plague Space, Krasnodar, Russia

2022 Open Plan, Towner Gallery, Eastbourne

2020 In A Rainbow of Coalitions, The MAC, Belfast

2020 Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, Leicester Gallery, De Montfort University 

2020 Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, The Salisbury Museum, Salisbury

Online Group Exhibitions

2024 The Last Off-Site Show On Earth At Plague and Everywhere (pt.1), Plague Space, Krasnodar, Russia

2021 Big Fungus, Soloshow.online

2021 No-Body’s Room, The Room Projects, Paris

2020 ANNO ∞ DOMINI, Soloshow.online

2020 The Days Are Just Packed, The Pool, Heybeliada, Istanbul

2020 Wellnow.wtf

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For more information, follow Miguel Martin on Instagram @mmiguelmartinn

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan talks to artist Sarah O'Brien in 2021.

Sarah O’Brien, born in Cork, 1980.

BA Painting, CCAD, Cork, 2003. MFA Painting NCAD, Dublin, 2007. PgDip Third Level Learning and Teaching, DIT 2012

Lives and works in Kinsale, Co.Cork. 

Selected shows include: NEW LIGHT, Lewis Glucksman Gallery (2020), RHA OPEN 2020 (Invited Artist), PERIPHERIES Open 2019, Gorey Art School, Gorey, Everything is in everything, Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, Wish Me a Wonder, Waterford (all 2019) and STREAM PROJECT, Limerick (2018).

Sarah O’Brien’s work is in the collection of The Office of Public Works and has been funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and the RHA.

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For more information, follow Sarah O'Brien on Instagram @sarah_o__brien

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan talks to artist Emma Ferrer from her studio in Italy in 2021.

Emma Kathleen Hepburn Ferrer was born in Morges, Switzerland and grew up in Florence, Italy where her conscience became replete with a visceral exposure to Medieval and Renaissance iconography. As a young painter, Ferrer also spent extensive time in Spain where she became drawn to the works of Francisco de Zurbaràn, and Symbolist painter Julio Romero de Torres.

Among her other strong influences are Goya, Manet, Giorgio de Chirico, Edvard Munch, Arnold Böcklin, and Félix Vallotton. Early in her artistic career Ferrer pursued a classical education in drawing and painting.

One of the youngest students ever accepted into the academy, at 18 years of age Ferrer enrolled in the Advanced Painting program at the Florence Academy of Art, a traditional atelier where she would be imbued in the techniques, methodologies, and theories of the great masters. There, Ferrer undertook exhaustive studies from of the live figure, studying human anatomy in depth as well as becoming fluent in classical materials in drawing, painting, and sculpture.

Upon finishing school, Ferrer moved to New York where she would work in contemporary art galleries as a curator and international artist liaison, as well as become the administrative director of a Democratic Super PAC specializing in the sale of contemporary art as a means of political fundraising. During this time, ferrer also gathered experience working in production and art direction for music videos and short films. Ultimately, she would return to live and work, devoting herself to her art practice, at her home in Camaiore, Italy.

Ferrer received her MFA from Central Saint Martins in London in 2024. Throughout the course of her education and professional years she has been mentored by, studied under, and worked for artists such as Vincent Desiderio, Golucho, Will Cotton, Cynthia Talmadge, Ivan Theimer, and Emanuele Giannelli. She has curated and assistant-curated the works of Zac Posen, Manolo Blahnik, 24th, 25th, and 28th Venice Biennale artist Eugenio Pardini, and 54th Venice Biennale artist Sofia Cacciapaglia for institutions in the US and Spain.

Emma Ferrer currently has a solo exhibition 

The Scapegoat, Sapar Contemporary, New York City 9 Jan - Feb 15 (2025)

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For more information, follow Emma Ferrer on Instagram @ekhferrer

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan talks to writer, researcher and editor Michaële Cutaya and emerging curator and artist Sona Šmédková in 2021.

Michaele Cutaya is a writer, researcher and editor on art living in County Galway. Her reviews and essays have been published in Irish Arts Review, The Stinging Fly and Art Monthly amongst others.

She collaborates with artists towards specific art projects and residencies. She continues a contextual writing and discursive practice in the west of Ireland and has regularly participated in public discussions on art and its broader social and political framework. She has been invited to present ongoing research on writing and publications in universities and art colleges. She was co-founding editor of Fugitive Papers (2011- 2013) and editor of Circa Art Magazine (2016- 2022).

Her work has been supported by the Arts Council of Ireland Visual Arts Bursary in 2021 and 2022.

Sona Smédková is a Czech emerging curator and multidisciplinary artist based in Galway, Ireland. Sona gained First-class Honours in Master of Arts in Creative Practice at the School of Design and Creative Arts, ATU, Galway. In the fourth year of her undergrad studies, she was an integral member of the student-led curating team for an exhibition for GMIT contemporary art graduates Not a Degree Show, Printworks, funded by Galway City Arts Council.

She was awarded an Agility Award by the Arts Council of Ireland in 2021. In early 2022 she became a member of the Board of Directors at 126 Artist-Run Gallery and the same year she was a curator of an exhibition A Remix of Change at 126 Gallery as part of the Galway International Arts Festival. Sona's work was recently exhibited in a group show DEAD in Transmediale, Berlin under the Creative Pathways Programme, funded by the Irish Embassy Berlin and Goethe Institute Ireland.

The show travelled to Dublin and was launched as part of the Culture Night 2023 at Goethe Institute Ireland. She also showed in Brussels at the European Parliament as part of Mental Health Day and in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Soňa's practice investigates identity, in-between spaces, and disruption through the lens of migration and abstract painting. She works with a range of media, often blending digital and physical artefacts to create installations that evoke a sense of entanglement.

Her creative process is rooted in migration studies, specifically examining the political regimes of Eastern Europe, which shapes both her art and curatorial work.

As a curator, she is passionate about supporting underrepresented artists and those working at the intersection of technology and contemporary practices. She has previously served as a director of the 126 Artist-Run Gallery, which deepened her engagement with artist-run spaces and collective curatorial efforts.

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For more information, follow Šona Šmédková and Michaële Cutaya on Instagram @sonasmedkova @michaeleingalway

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