Current Research and Work-In-Progress, 2025/26

Following a period of exhibiting, this year I am focusing on artistic research, reflection, and technical development. My aim is to deepen my immersive media practice and evolve the conceptual foundation of a long-term enquiry into ecological grief, contested memory, and the digitally mediated body.

While much of my work to date has responded to my place in the Borderlands of Ireland, I am now expanding this research to explore contested places and spaces worldwide. I am interested in how immersive tools, including motion capture, generative systems, and projection mapping, can be used in poetic, place-responsive, and politically engaged ways. This phase of practice is less about producing finished works and more about conceptual enquiry, embodied experimentation, and peer exchange, testing how digital embodiment and non-linear narrative structures can open spaces for witnessing and reflection.

These works began during Mediated Bodies with the School of Machines, Imagination and Make-Believe, Berlin, which invited us to consider how bodies perform with and within technological media. I am continuing this research with XR Lab at Digital Arts Studios, Belfast, and I am grateful to my XR colleague Mathieu Decodts, who generously gifted me a Kinect, opening new directions in body tracking exploration.

Focus for 2025–26

• Researching ecological grief, memory, and place to ground the conceptual framework of my work.

• Experimenting with digital tools through iterative, open-ended making processes.

• Deepening approaches to performance, embodiment, and digital aesthetics.

• Participating in XR Lab (Digital Arts Studios, Belfast) to develop technical skills, share ideas, and strengthen all-island collaboration.

• Preparing for a three-month residency with Art Arcadia (Oct–Dec 2026), undertaking site-responsive research in Derry’s cultural and ecological landscape, with curatorial support and public engagement opportunities.

• Preparing for a potential residency with Inside-Out Art Museum, Beijing, China (subject to funding), expanding enquiry into ecological grief, memory, and embodiment across different cultural contexts.

• Continuing Mandarin Chinese studies at HSK Level 4 (汉语水平考试 Chinese Language Proficiency Test), enabling meaningful engagement with local collaborators, contexts, and audiences.