This solo exhibition by Celina Muldoon is the first iteration of a major research project and collaboration with TCD, comprising of installation, sculpture, live performance, film and public events, curated by Ruth Carroll.
Since 2020, the artist has been collaborating with Dr. Clare Kelly of Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and School of Psychology, TCD. Together they explored the development of identity and, in particular, the concept of ‘narrative identity’ and its development at multiple and intersecting levels of understanding: collective/societal, individual, and at the level of the brain and its development across the lifespan. In tandem, Muldoon has been expanding her practice to explore moving image techniques with production company Sixbetween. The intention of the project is to explore experimental performance and film techniques best suited to disseminating the research findings.
What has arisen from this collaborative research is the need to examine the recurring links between climate change and anxiety and how the effects of these influences shape the development of our identity and our understanding of ourselves in relation to time and place in the brain.
In particular, they have been investigating the relationship between narrative identity and behavioural change and how we might bring about behavioural change with respect to the climate and our environment by accessing, drawing out, and exploring people’s narrative identities. This has led to a combined collaboration with Dr. Francis Ludlow and Ph.D. candidate Rhonda McGovern of the Trinity Centre for Environmental Humanities in the School of Histories and Humanities, TCD.
Celina Muldoon is an artist based in the North West of Ireland. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally in Bushwick Studios New York, Cyberarts Gallery, Boston and with Craw festival, Berlin. Her major multi-disciplinary work 'SIRENS' was funded by the Next Generation Award and the Artist in the Community Scheme Award from the Arts Council.
Selected exhibitions include 'Untitled' for Live Collision International Live Art Festival, Dublin 2018, 'SIRENS III' solo exhibition in Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin, 2019 and 'SIRENS IV' for Futures: Series 3; Episode 3, RHA, Dublin, 2019.
Funding Awards include The Visual Arts Bursary Award in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Her practice was selected by the Arts Council in partnership with Pallas Projects and Studios for the Commission Award in 2020. She has been awarded numerous prestigious residencies and has been invited as Artist in Residence in VISUAL Carlow for 2021 and 2022. Muldoon will be taking part in the SIM residency in Iceland in 2022, CCI, Paris in Spring 2023 and ICSP, New York in Summer 2023.
To accompany this exhibition, the artist along with her collaborators have developed a publication which documents the interdisciplinary collaborative research project to date. The publication includes an introduction by the artist, three essays composed by Dr Clare Kelly, Rhonda McGovern and Dr Áine Phillips. They are written with the expertise of each author, in their respective fields, in response to and in collaboration with Kurnugia NOW!
Associated Texts:
Fabulous Fictions and Corporealities Aine Phillips
Kurnugia NOW Introduction Celina Muldoon
