Approved: 12.03.2016

Caitriona Dunnett

Artist, Project manager

Approved: 12.03.2016
 
 

News

     

    Artist Statement

    Caitriona Dunnett is an Irish artist based in the UK. Her practice is influenced by the land and its stories. She explores the heritage of the layered landscape and in cases intertwines it with personal narratives.

    A beautiful walk etched into the Kerry coastline stirred an interest to research and photograph Mass Paths in the Irish landscape, to tell the story of the thousands of people who risked all to attend secret mass during penal times. A Well Trodden Path continues this work, a partnership project with Dr Hilary Bishop that explores the remnants of mass paths in Galway. Parishioner Monica Holland remembers walking the paths barefoot, her shoes tied together over her shoulder. She wiped them clean before putting on her socks and shoes for mass.

    Hill Close Gardens, local to Dunnett, is one of the last groups of detached Victorian pleasure gardens. She has been drawn to the gardens’ sense of peace and its archive of past tenants and owners including a photograph of an unknown young man in his Sunday best posing by a summerhouse, Mary Hooper reclining in the morning sun reading her newspaper and Mrs. Savage proudly standing by her prize lily. Working with her mother’s recollections, family photos and her own memories, Dunnett attempted to recreate her grandfather’s garden on the banks of Loch Long. The Lost Garden, recalls the sweet sharpness of the mint that grew in the back and the heady scent of roses on a warm summer evening.

    Dunnett has been using contemporary techniques, converting digital files into contact negatives to create handcrafted prints. Mostly working with the cyanotype, an early non-toxic photographic technique introduced by John Hershel, she tones her Prussian blue prints. Hill Close Gardens was toned with pomegranate, A Well Trodden Path with a leading brand of Irish tea, a favourite of many who walked the paths and Mass Paths was toned with a popular 19th century English tea that was once used to dye a Royal Christening gown.

    Experimenting is central to Dunnett’s practice, as is finding the appropriate technique to convey her stories, working with camera-less photographic techniques, such as the lumen process to record the interaction between plants, surface and light. Strawberry Leaves was created by placing the plant directly on top of photographic paper, though unfixed the print will fade. Dunnett’s practice explores memory. She is intrigued by the traces people leave behind, the paths they weave through time and the legacies attached to them.

     

     

     

    CV & Education

    Exhibitions

     

    Solo     

    2022    

    Hill Close Gardens, Hill Close Gardens, Warwick 

    The Lost Garden, Birmingham Darkroom, Birmingham

    2019    

    Spotlight, Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum, Leamington Spa 

    2018    

    Mass Paths, Custom House Studios and Gallery, Mayo 

     

    Group    

    2022    

    Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London

    Halftone Print Fair, the Library Project, Dublin

    West Midlands Open, The New Art Gallery Walsall

    Flourish Award, Huddersfield Art Gallery, Northern Print, Newcastle upon Tyne & The Point Gallery, South Yorkshire  

    2021    

    Halftone Print Fair, the Library Project, Dublin

    Photography Prize Exhibition, RBSA Gallery, Birmingham

    2019    

    RuaRed Winter Open, Dublin 

    Open, Rugby Art Gallery & Museum, Rugby

    Coventry Biennial, Coventry 

    ESPY Photography Award, Elysium Gallery, Swansea

    Warwickshire Open Studios, Leamington Spa 

    2018    

    Winter Exhibition, Custom House Studios and Gallery, Mayo

    Coventry Open, Herbert Gallery & Museum, Coventry

    Bainbridge Open, London

    2017    

    New Irish WorksPlural 17, Inter Center of Photo & Cinema, Madrid

    Impressions Biennial, GMIT Centre for Creative Arts and Media, Galway

    Mass Paths, New Irish Works, PhotoIreland, the Library Project, Dublin

    2016    

    Nottingham Castle Open, Nottingham

    Chasing Shadows, The Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal 

    The London Group Open, The Cello Factory, London

    Open, Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum, Leamington Spa

    Chasing Shadows, Dimbola Museum and Galleries, Isle of Wight

    Warwickshire Open Studios, Warwick 

    2014    

    National Original Print Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London

    Print Biennial 2014, RBSA Gallery, Birmingham

    The Walking Encyclopaedia, AirSpace Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent 

    2013    

    Pushing Print, Margate Gallery, Margate

    Ludlow Open, The Harley Centre, Ludlow

    And the Lads too…, Irish Cultural Centre, London

    2012    

    Between the Lines, Drawing Project, Dublin

    Female Irish Artists, 5 Years Gallery, London

    Chasing Shadows, The Profile Gallery, Saltburn by Sea

    2011    

    Creekside Open, selected by Dexter Dalwood, APT Gallery, London

    2010    

    At Play, South Hill Park, Bracknell

    2009    

    Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London

    Unique Perspectives, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham 

    Lost in Transit, Impressions Gallery, Bradford 

     

    Festivals         

    2022     

    Work Show Grow, SOLAR Foto Festival, Brazil

    Press + Play, Phoenix Art Space Festival of Print, Brighton

    rivers, signals, miracles, Collective 22, Collective Hubs, Brighton Photo Fringe

    Images Are All We Have, The Printworks, Dublin, PhotoIreland Festival

    Exhibition in Bloom, Shoot Festival, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

    22, Unit 7 Royal Hotel Buildings, Victoria Street, Derby, Format Festival

    2018     

    FOTOLIMO Festival, Salle Walter Benjamin, Portbou, Spain

    2016     

    New Irish Works, PhotoIreland, Centre Culturel Irlandais, ParisPhoto

    2015     

    Chasing Shadows, Gallery X, Dublin, PhotoIreland

    2014     

    Photo-Paint, Fringe Arts Bath Festival, Bath

    2012     

    Chasing Shadows, Centre for Creative Practices, Dublin, PhotoIreland

    2010     

    Chasing Shadows, Centre for Creative Practices, Dublin, PhotoIreland

    Wild, Wicked and Wanton, Lewisham Arthouse, Lewisham, DeptfordX

    2009        

    Lost in Transit, Vyner Street Gallery, London, London Photomonth

     

    Online    

    2022    

    rivers, signals, miracles, Collective 22, Collective Hubs, Brighton Photo Fringe

    Analog Forever Group Exhibition - "Connecting to the Divine”

    2021    

    Analog Forever Group Exhibition - "Photography Out of Control”

    2020    

    Cork Artists Showcase, Uillinn Galleries

    2017    

    LensCulture’s Winter Exhibition

     

    Awards   

    2022    

    Danny Wilson Memorial Award Professional’s Choice Collective 22

    Funded by Art Friends Warwickshire in partnership curator Alice Swatton

    Coventry Artspace Bursary

    Honourable Mention Julia Margaret Cameron Award’s 

    15 Frames Bursary, Darkroom Birmingham

    Shortlisted Flourish Award 

    Small Arts Grants, Derby City Council, Collective 22

    2021    

    Third Prize RBSA Photography Exhibition

    Shortlisted the Light of Day

    Agility Award, Arts Council Ireland

    Analogue Photography Grant the Richard and Siobhán Coward Foundation

    Runner Up Spectrum Portfolio Award Format

    2020    

    DYCP Award, Arts Council England

    Honourable Mention Julia Margaret Cameron Award’s 

    2019    

    an Artist Bursary

    2018    

    British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant in partnership with Dr Hilary Bishop, Liverpool John Moores University 

    Shortlisted for the GPF International Photography Competition 

    2017    

    Shortlisted for Remote Photography Festival 

    2016    

    Selected for PhotoIreland’s New Irish Works project

    Shortlisted for the Annex Collection Acquisition Award

    Grain Photography Hub Bursary 

    2015    

    Grants for the Arts Award, Arts Council England

    Shortlisted for the Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize

     

    Education 

    2005     

    Arts Management Diploma, Birkbeck University of London, London

    2002     

    MFA in Photography, Rhode Island School of Design, USA

    1999     

    BA in Photography (1st Class Hons), Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham

    1997     

    Certificate in Photography, Dun Laoghaire College of Art & Design, Dublin

     

    Professional Development        

    2022     

    Experience 2022: An introduction to arts, health and the older person, Age & Opportunity, Uillinn West CorkArt Centre and Waterford Healing Art Trust

    Leading Workshops with Tess Radcliffe, Coventry Artspace

    2021     

    East Meets West Master Class with Grain Projects, Format and Quad

    2021     

    PhotoIreland Professional Development Programme

    2021     

    Workshops with Hannah Fletcher Sustainable Darkroom

     

    Commissions      

    2022     

    Ancient Connections Holy Wells Visual Arts Commission

    Small is Beautiful, Culture @Solihull/Parrabbola 

    2021     

    Artist On My Street, Artspace Coventry

    Live & Local LivingRoom: Artist Commission

    2020     

    Creative Connections Commission, Creative Black Country

     

    Publications       

    2021     

    A Well Trodden Path, published by PhotoIreland

    Hill Close Gardens, published by PhotoIreland

    2018     

    Mass Paths, published by PhotoIreland 

     

    Residencies        

    2021     

    Dereenacappera, Beara Peninsula, Ireland 

    2016     

    AA2A at School of Art & Design, Coventry University, Coventry

    2008     

    AA2A at Bedfordshire University, Luton

     

    Other              

    Member of Collective 22

    A new collective formed in 2022 by photographers selected by Grain Projects, Format Festival and Quad for their East Meets West Masterclass programme.

     

    Workshops        

    PhotoIreland Festival, Hill Close Gardens, Darkroom Birmingham, Living Memory ProjectLeamington Spa Museum & Gallery, Coventry University