Dublin City University announces three new Visual Artists in Residence for 2022/23

DCU announces three new Visual Artists in Residence for 2022/23

Dublin City University is delighted to announce the selection of three new Visual Artists in Residence for 2022/23 - Elva Mulchrone, Emily Waszak and Susan Leen.

These residencies are offered in collaboration with Fire Station Artists’ Studios and are based in Drumcondra House on DCU’s All Hallows campus.

The appointments are part of a growing ecosystem of artist residencies across the University, developed under the auspices of DCU’s Arts and Culture Plan.

The artists will avail of funded studio spaces, among other supports, and will engage with members of the DCU community as they develop new work.

Elva Mulchrone is a Dublin-based visual artist. Conceptually driven, her practice examines the role of mathematics and abstraction in contextualising an understanding of who and where we are, social science concerns, repeat pattern, randomness and of aesthetics. Her practice is informed by her primary degree in economics and analysis of data, and she is continually inspired by academic research. During her residency she plans to engage with researchers and academics in Law, Economics and Humanities. 

Emily Waszak is a Dublin-based visual artist and textile worker. Her work is “concerned with building anti-capitalist imaginaries as prefigurative resistance in the landscape of organised abandonment under racial capitalism.” She uses textiles as a medium through which to reclaim and revalue feminised, reproductive labour. During her residency, Emily will continue to develop her Grief Weaving project, where she builds DIY grief ritual imaginaries in lockdown isolation.

Susan Leen is originally from Kerry but is returning to Ireland from Paris after ten years. She works predominantly in drawing and installation and her work explores themes of integration and how we inhabit a place, using materials that are fragile and ephemeral in nature to echo the inherent unease that lies within this question. During her residency, Susan will take the opportunity to develop a body of drawing work based on contemporary Dublin's architecture and topography. She plans to engage with researchers and academics in DCU’s School of History and Geography and School of Psychology. 

Commenting on the new Artists in Residence appointments, DCU Cultural Arts Officer, Marcella Bannon said:

“Over the past two years, we’ve seen more than ever how vital it is to support artists. DCU is committed to providing space for artists to continue to work in Dublin, while also offering access to a vibrant research community, a dynamic student body and a magnificent historic and contemporary campus.”

DCU President Daire Keogh said: 

“I am delighted to welcome Elva, Emily and Susan to the DCU, confident that their residencies prove to be valuable and productive. The presence of such exceptional artists adds greatly to the cultural life at DCU. The residencies also present exciting opportunities for innovative engagement between University research and the visual arts.”