Biography
Gwen Wilkinson is an Irish artist who specialises in photography and digital composites. Wilkinson received her MFA from NCAD in Dublin, and has since been exhibiting widely. Central to her artistic practice is an exploration of the points of intersection between nature and artifice, metamorphosis and decay, fiction and reality. Through a range of landscape and still-life photographic studies she conveys a sense of enigma and the unexpected.
Elements that feature in her work include – taxidermy, bones, seeds, dried leaves and flowers. Other components include man-made objects such as wire, string and architectural structures. These motifs appear in ways that suggest transition and temporality. Wilkinson works with a variety of photographic techniques ranging from historic analogue methods such as wet plate collodion, albumen and cyanotype printing to advanced digital composites. Each process has a unique character and requires a different set of skills and level of interaction. The process and materials are integral to the works expression.
Gwen Wilkinson was a finalist for the Propeller 2013 Award for Graduate photography students, and won the Golden Fleece Award in 2011. Her work appears in many collections including the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Irish Office of Public Woks.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2011 Edifice, The Norman Gallery, Enniscorthy, Wexford
2007 Platform 059 Eigse Carlow Arts Festival, St. Patrick’s College, Carlow
2005 A Rapa das Bestas, The Watergate Gallery, Kilkenny
2003 Emigrants, The Excel Gallery, Tipperary
Selected Group Exhibitions
2013 Lacuna [01], Taylor Galleries, Kildare Street, Dublin.
2013 Vue Art Fair (Taylor Galleries), Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
2013 Jonathan Swift Gallery, Wexford Opera Festival, Wexford
2013 RDS Student Art Awards Travelling Exhibition, Luan Gallery, Athlone, Co. West Meath
2013 Jonathan Swift Gallery, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Kilkenny
2013 RDS Student Art Awards Exhibition, RDS, Dublin
2013 Propeller Award Finalists, The Copper House Gallery, Synge St., Dublin
2013 MFA Graduate Show, Moxie Studios, Dublin
2012 The Framewell Gallery, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny
2012 Chasing Shadows III, Centre for Creative Practices, Dublin
2012 The Nine Stones Artists, Eigse Carlow Arts Festival, Deighton Hall,Carlow
2012 First Year MFA, Moxie Studios, Dublin
2012 OAK, Killenure Castle, Cashel, Tipperary
2010 RHA Open Selection, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
2010 Chasing Shadows I, Centre for Creative Practices, Dublin
2010 Newtownbarry Summer Exhibition, Newtownbarry Gallery, Bunclody, Wexford
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