Ultraviolet Art Talks

Closing Season 8 on this special episode, Caren Sullivan Talks to artist Isabel Nolan in 2021.

Isabel Nolan has an expansive practice that incorporates sculptures, paintings, textile works, photographs, writing and works on paper. Her subject matter is similarly comprehensive, taking in cosmological phenomena, religious reliquaries, Greco-Roman sculptures and literary/historical figures, examining the behaviour of humans and animals alike.

These diverse artistic investigations are driven by intensive research, but the end result is always deeply personal and subjective. Exploring the “intimacy of materiality”, Nolan’s work ranges from the architectural – steel sculptures that frame or obstruct our path – to small handmade objects in clay, hand-tufted wool rugs illuminated with striking cosmic imagery, to drawings and paintings using humble gouache or colouring pencils. In concert, they feel equally enchanted by and afraid of the world around us, expressing humanity’s fear of mortality and deep need for connection as well as its startling achievements in art and thought.

Driven by “the calamity, the weirdness, horror, brevity and wonder of existing alongside billions of other preoccupied humans”, her works give generous form to fundamental questions about the ways the chaos of the world is made beautiful or given meaning through human activity.

In 2026, Nolan will represent Ireland at the 61st Venice Biennale, with Georgina Jackson and The Douglas Hyde Gallery of Contemporary Art as the curator and Cian O’Brien as producer. In 2025, Nolan will participate in the 13th Liverpool Biennial, Bedrock, curated by Marie-Anne McQuay (7 June – 14 September). 

Isabel Nolan lives and works in Dublin.

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For more information, follow Isabel Nolan o Instagram @nolanisabel @kerlingallery @templebargalleryandstudios

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan talks to curator Séamus McCormack in 2021.

Séamus McCormack has developed curatorial projects both in Ireland and the UK including at Luan Gallery, Athlone; ArtBox, Dublin; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; The Bomb Factory, London; Lewisham Arthouse, London; No Show Space, London; The LAB, Dublin and Lismore Castle Arts, Waterford.

He curates Commonage projects space in Bethnal Green, London presenting solo exhibitions with artists including Hugo Brazao, Nat Faulkner, Hannah Lim, Tami Soji-Akinyemi, Tim Spooner and Taro Qureshi.

He is Senior Curator, New Contemporaries working on exhibitions, events, talks and performances in venues across the UK including at the South London Gallery, ICA, Camden Arts Centre, Leeds Art Gallery, BALTIC and Firstsite. He was previously Assistant Curator at both the Whitechapel Gallery, London and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin working on group exhibitions such as ‘Electronic Superhighway’; ‘Intellectual Barbarians: The Kibbo Kift Kindred’; ‘Primal Architecture’; ‘Traces’ and solo shows with artists including Christopher Williams, Willie Doherty, Haroon Mirza, Harun Farocki and Alice Maher. 

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For more information, follow Séamus McCormack on Instagram @seamusmccormack

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan talks to artist Emma Roche in 2021. Her unique paintings has caught my immediate attention back in 2021, here she talks about her unique method of knitting paint.

Education

M.A. in Visual Arts Practices, I.A.D.T. Dublin, 2010 

B.A. in Fine Art Painting, N.C.A.D., Dublin, 2006

Turps Banana Art School, London 2016-2019

Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions  

2023

LOOP, Emergence Award, Wexford Arts Centre

Lined Out, Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray

2021  

OCHRE, 2-person exhibition with Ciara Roche, Wexford Arts Centre 

2021  

Spiders and Cheerleaders, Ground Floor Gallery, The Complex, Dublin  

2018  

Forward Slash, The Lab Gallery, Dublin  

Selected Group Exhibitions  

2024

What Now?, PM/AM Gallery, London

Le Vernissage, Partie Deux, Brigitte Mulholland, Paris

2023

John Moore’s Painting Prize Exhibition, Walker Gallery, Liverpool

2022

GENERATION 2022, Butler Gallery, Kilkenny

Zurich Portrait Prize Exhibition, The National Gallery, Dublin and Crawford Gallery, Cork

Small Night Zine, Catalyst Arts, Belfast and Garter Lane, Waterford. Curated by James Merrigan 

2020  

The Sky is Blue, VISUAL Carlow, selected by Katie Holten  

Teaching

2022 Guest Lecturer, The National College of Art and Design, Dublin (MFA Painting)

2022 Guest Speaker Troubling the Museum on The Culture File Debate, RTE Lyric FM

2022 Guest Lecturer, Sligo IT, BA Painting

2020- 2022 PeripheriesMEET Mentor, Gorey School of Art, Wexford

Guest Lecturer, IADT, Dublin (BA Painting)

2019 Guest Lecturer Wexford Campus, Carlow IT

2018, 2019 ColART and TFAC Artist Lecture Series, London

2017-2022 Co-curator PERIPHERIES exhibition programme with James Merrigan, Gorey School of Art

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For more information, follow Emma Roche on Instagram @emmaroche83 @brigittemulhollandparis

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan talks to artist Joseph Heffernan in 2021.

Joseph Heffernan is an Irish artist based in Backwater Artists Studios, Cork. His exquisite paintings transports the viewer to a different, magic era.

Education

2013-2016: MFA(Painting), NCAD, Dublin.

2012-2013: Creative Ceramics Level 6, Colaiste Stiofain Naoife.

2005-2009: Hons BA(Fine Art), Crawford College of Art and Design.

Selected Exhibitions Solo

2023: A Thousand Years, Studio 12 Gallery, Backwater Artists Studios, Cork

2022: The Golden Age, Blue House Gallery, Schull, West Cork

2020: There were Strange Gatherings, Ashford Gallery, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin

2018: Borderland/Memento, Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford (2-Person)

Selected Group

Upcoming: 

Backwater Members Show, Lavit Gallery, Cork

2023: 193rd Annual Open, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin

2023: Displacement and Belonging – Home, RUA RED, Dublin

2023: Annual Members Show, Lavit Gallery, Cork

2022: Winter Show, Lavit Gallery, Cork

2022: Sample Studios Annual Members Show, Lord Mayors Pavilion, Cork

2022: Closer, Lavit Gallery, Cork

2022: Annual Members Show, Lavit Gallery, Cork

2021: Sample Studios Winter Members Show, Lord Mayors Pavilion, Cork

2021: Annual Members Show, Lavit Gallery, Cork

2021: Backwater 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Blue House Gallery, Schull

2020: 190th Annual Open, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin

Awards

2023 Cork City Council Individual Artists Bursary

2021 Arts Council Agility Award

2020 Contemporary Irish Arts Society Award for a work of Distinction

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For more information, follow Joseph Heffernan on Instagram @josephheffernan.art

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan talks to artist, educator, Taffina Flood in 2021.

Taffina Flood was born in Dublin. She has exhibited widely in Ireland and abroad, and her work is held in many notable public and private collections. 

In addition to painting and printmaking, Taffina lectures at the National College of Art & Design in Dublin.

Taffina’s art is characterised by dense, evocative, jewel-like colour patterns. Her prints for Behaviour & Attitudes were devised as a series of imagined windows into the language and forms of gardens – crossing the memory of actual remembered gardens with dream-like glimpses into nature, experienced as an idealised abstract force.

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For more information, follow Taffina Flood on Instagram @floodtaffina

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan talk to the duo Austin Hearne and Glenn McQuaid from Satin Shadow in 2021.

Satin Shadow is a Goth, Industrial music duo by artist Austin Hearne and filmmaker and producer Glenn McQuaid.

Concerns around the occupation of Ireland by the Roman Catholic Church are at the heart of Austin Hearne's practice.The majesty and misery of this institution are the poles which Hearne operates within.

Photography is at the root of his practice, using this medium in its most experimental and expansive form to create performances, installations, films, music and mise-en-scéne. Playing with fact and fiction Hearne creates worlds, characters and scenarios to satirise, demonise and embellish.

Alongside all this he brings in the stuff of the painting and decorating industry to make wallpapered interiors decorated with painted photographic objects and furniture.

Austin Hearne is supported by the Arts Council Bursary Award 2020,2021, 2022.

Recent projects include Requiem for Raymo (solo) at the RHA Gallery (which included a weekly performance as part of the installation.), (Nov 22 to Jan 23). His film Whispers was shown as part of the Gaze Film Festival where it won Best Irish Short (2022).

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 Satin Shadow, Austin Hearne and Glenn McQuaid on Instagram @satinshadow @austinhearne @glenn_mcquaid

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan talks to multidisciplinary artist Celina Muldoon in 2021.

Identity, memory and surveillance are themes around which Celina Muldoon investigates relationships between socio-political structures and the body.

Her work spans Live Performance, Film and Installation. She uses collaborative processes to test live performance methodologies in response to site and context. Her unique live installations and videos generate uncertainty through satire and wit.

Critical triggers of Muldoon's live work rely upon audience participation and interaction. Audio and live installation elements work in tandem to manifest highly charged emotional experiences unfolding momentarily in real time. 

With a particular focus on the intimate space and the analysis of the body as representation of political agency, her work is realised through sci-fi re-enactments of mythological narratives. Often what arises through her live performances is a deep emotional connection between participants and the audience. Her primary motivation is to cultivate moments of magic and fantasy. Within this surrealist environment she conjures human connection with the viewer and strives to promote a collective sense of tolerance, compassion and empathy.

Celina Muldoon is an artist based in Northwest Ireland. Research projects include collaboration with the dept. of Neuroscience in Trinity College Dublin.

She has exhibited nationally and internationally in Bushwick Studios N.Y., Cyberarts Gallery, Boston and with Craw Festival Berlin. Her major multi-disciplinary work SIRENS is funded by the Next Generation Award and the Artist in the Community Scheme Award from the Arts Council. Selected exhibitions include SIRENS for Live Collision, Dublin, 2019; SIRENS III solo exhibition in Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin, 2019; and SIRENS IV in Futures: Series 3; Episode 3, R.H.A. Dublin, 2019.

She has completed residencies in Cowhouse Studios and Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annamakerrig. Celina Muldoon was artist-in-resident at St. Vincent's Primary School, Dublin as part of Creative Generations supported by The Central Bank of Ireland.

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For more information, follow Celina Muldoon on Instagram @celina_muldoon

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan talks to filmmaker, writer, Richard Harvey in 2021.

Richard Harvey is a writer and director from Dublin. His work is heavily influenced by Irish mythology and the horror genre and often deals with themes such as mortality, toxic masculinity and the dysfunctional family. 

Some of his achievements include winning the 2020 YMVC at First Cut Youth Film Festival for the music video for ADT’s Even the Sun Don’t Shine on Lonely Hearts in Shadow. The music video also screened at DISFMF 2020 and went on to be nominated for an EDA. 

His 2018 short film Real Horrorshow screened at The Richard Harris International Film Festival 2018, First Cut Youth Film Festival 2020 and The Revere International Student Film Festival 2020.

His 2019 short film Polaroid screened at the Richard Harris International Film Festival 2019 and the 2020 National Student Media Awards.

Most recently he has written and directed a music video for La Di Da’s Communicate (2022) alongside co writer and producer Alex Keatinge from Glance Stealer Productions as well as short film Ceist an Taibhse (2024). 

Richard is also available for works as location sound and has experience working on short films, features and documentary. 

His photography portfolio includes headshots, food, fashion, events and product. He is always relaxed, yet focused and professional in nature, consistently delivering a high standard.

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For more information, follow Richard Harvey on Instagram @richardhrrrvy

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On this episode, Caren Sullivan talks to artist Serena Caulfield in 2012.

Serena Caulfield is an artist who makes paintings. Memories morph into tall tales. Invented imagery invites novel narratives. Transforming old to new, past to present, absence to presence, here to there, she likes to paint quickly and think slowly.

Serena has exhibited regionally and nationally. Recent group shows include WIDE OPEN SPACE, at Wexford Co. Council Buildings, BEEP Painting Biennial, Wales, GENERATION2022: New Irish Painting, Butler Gallery, Kilkenny and Zurich Portrait Prize, at the National Gallery of Ireland and Crawford Art Gallery. Solo exhibitions include Dream Baby Dream, Solomon Fine Art Dublin, (2024), The Remnants and the Ruins RCC, Letterkenny (2024), Not somewhere else but here at Wexford Arts Centre, (2023) and Convergences at Ballina Arts Centre (2023).

She is currently working towards a solo exhibition at Art-Seen Contemporary, Nicosia, Cyprus in Spring 2025 and her work will be included in multiple group exhibitions in the coming months.

Recent awards include The Arts Council of Ireland Visual Arts Bursary, Platform 31 Artist Award, an Artlinks Visual Arts Bursary and an Arts Council Agility Award. Serena has an MA in Fine Art from NUA, Norwich, UK (2009) and a BA from Gorey School of Art and Wexford Campus School of Art and Design, IT Carlow.

Her work is held in private, public and corporate collections nationally and internationally.

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For more information, follow Serena Caulfield on Instagram @serenacaulfieldvisualartist

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On this special episode closing Season 07, Caren Sullivan talks to singer Jack Lukeman in 2021. There is a second episode where jack Lukeman sings for Ultraviolet Art Talks, check it on @_ultravioletarttalks_

Lukeman first came to prominence in the summer of 1995 when he and The Black Romantics took up a residency at The Da Club (Dublin Arts Club) in Dublin selling out night after night. The band's set included interpretations of Jacques Brel along with several of Jack's own compositions. The band recorded the album Wax in 1995 before splitting in 1997.

Lukeman established himself as a solo artist and songwriter with his live work and his breakthrough 1999 multi-platinum selling album Metropolis Blue, gaining record deals and touring extensively in the US and Europe, and becoming a regular fixture on U.S college radio with the singles "Rooftop Lullabye", "Georgie Boy" and "Ode to Ed Wood".

During his musical career Lukeman has worked with composer Brian Byrne, the Nelson RiddleOrchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic and producers Greg Wells, Craig Armstrong and Martin Clancy.

Lukeman has also performed over the years supporting or alongside U2, Ronnie Wood, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, John Lee Hooker, Elvis Costello, Jools Holland, and Marianne Faithfull, and has appeared at venues such as Olympia Paris, Royal Albert Hall in London, and The Lincoln Center in NYC.

Discography:

Wax (1995, with The Black Romantics), Acoustico (1997, limited release), Metropolis Blue (1999), Universe (2001), Songs from the Little Universe Show (2002), The Amsterdam Album (2005), Broken Songs (2006), Burn On (2008), The Story So Far – The Essential Collection(2009), The 27 Club (2012), The Great Wall of China EP (2013), Northern Lights – Songs for the Winter Solstice(2014), The King of Soho (2016), Magic Days (2017), Streamed: Best of the Lockdown Sessions Vol. 1 (2020), Echo On (2022).

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For more information on tours, live sessions and album release, follow Jack Lukeman on Instagram @lukeman_aka_jackl

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