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I am an Irish-artist from the Connemara Gaeltacht, creating and composing visual art works and live vocal performances for galleries, site-specific locations, music venues, and theatres.

My practice is research-driven and deeply informed by a passion for learning and for literature—drawing from an array of sources, including historical texts, academic writing, poetry, and both fiction and non-fiction. Collaboration is central to my work: I regularly partner with fellow artists and professionals across a variety of fields. Depending on the project, I also engage with communities of interest or place, with the level of involvement shaped by the nature and needs of each piece.

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My artistic perspective and questioning is rooted in my own experiences—as a queer woman who speaks a minority language, living in rural Ireland. In a time when fundamental human values and needs are threatened by crises in housing, climate, capitalism, and continued patriarchal systems, I am compelled to explore how these forces impact our sense of belonging and our relationships—with one another and with the natural world.

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What does it mean to lose a language, and with it, the unique ways of seeing and knowing the world that language offers? What happens to us when a species disappears forever? When a bird’s seasonal call—once a marker of time and place—falls silent? And, when we move away from repressive religious traditions, what new spiritual paradigms do we create for ourselves and our communities’ in our continued need for ritual and meaning?

These are some of the questions I have explored in my practice to date.

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My work is an act of bearing witness—of drawing attention to what has been lost—as a means of collective remembrance, connection, and reclamation. Over the past thirteen years, a central focus of my practice has been the exploration of lament, drawing inspiration from the traditional Irish role of the bean caoineadh—the keening woman—who voiced grief, named loss, and spoke on behalf of her community. Keening, with its distinctive forms of song, recitation, and ritualised witnessing, remains a powerful thread in my work: naming, calling out, mourning, and eulogising

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Through the use of video, photography, singing and performative narration, I invite audiences to engage with challenging and emotive subjects. I have discovered a potent resonance at the intersection of visual and vocal arts—a synergy deeply shaped by my upbringing within a tradition of song, and oral recitation.

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I have to date, exhibited and performed work internationally and in Ireland, including the Museum Of Fine Art, Florida, Stable Gallery, Washington, Katzen Arts Centre, Washington, the Barbican, UK, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum (2015), Galway Arts Centre and the National Gallery of Ireland.

Select commissioned works include Weathering with Mary Wycherley and composer Jurgen Simpson (2023), CAOIN (2022),  Bealtaine Festival ‘Of Scent and Song (2021), Viriditas, Galway ECOC & Saolta Arts (2020), Dóchas/Hope, Oireachtas na Gaeilge & Waterways Ireland (2019). The Feminist Supermarket, Ormston House, (2021), Pocahontas Opera House Residency with Anna Roberts Gevalt, West Virginia, USA (2022 & 23). 
 

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2025 Projects

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Greywood Arts, Cork - Artists Residency, May 25

Galway International Arts Festival & Interface, Curated by Valeria Ceregini - July 2025

CREATE- Artists in the Community Scheme: I Sing Myself - Research Project Award 2025

Arts Council Music Bursary Award recipient: 2024

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For commission/performance inquiries email: conwayceara@gmail.com

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