Moult is a solo exhibition by Nicola Sheehan exploring health, the body and seasons of change. The exhibtion was developed with curator Chloe Maguire.

 

The experiences of health and the body rarely remain fixed. Bodies change, symptoms return, routines are altered, and ordinary objects can become unexpectedly connected to particular moments of illness, recovery or care. These experiences formed the starting point for Call for Reflection, through which eighteen women anonymously reflected on their health, bodily change and the objects that had become part of those experiences. Their responses brought together memories, sensations and everyday materials: plants, pillows, keys, cotton gloves, hot water bottles, stones and knots. Words including cyclical and changing appeared within the reflections, describing experiences that could be recurring, unpredictable and continually shifting.

 

It was through this process that Nicola Sheehan began to consider Hygieia, the ancient Greek personification of health, traditionally represented with a serpent and vessel. The serpent’s capacity to shed its skin offered a visual language for the changes described within the reflections, while Hygieia provided a historical representation of health through which Sheehan could consider the body, objects and transformation. Rather than illustrating individual experiences, she translates these ideas through her expanded printmaking practice. Cyanotype becomes an important part of this translation. Through light, exposure and contact, bodies and objects are transformed into images, while the process itself requires experimentation, repetition and renewal. An unsuccessful exposure can mean beginning again, adjusting the process and allowing a new image to emerge. Moult brings these different forms of change together. The shedding of a skin, the changing body, the recurring experiences described by the women and the repeated processes of making become connected through a body of work concerned with transformation.

 

Nicola Sheehan is a visual artist based in Cork City. Her practice involves expanded printmaking techniques, using a combination of digital and analogue processes to create pieces. Her work centres around female experiences, with an interest in mythology. In 2021 she graduated from the MTU Crawford College of Art and Design with a BA Hons in Fine Art. Nicola is a member of Backwater Artists Network and Visual Artists Ireland. Her work is held in the collections of Cork City Council, the Office of Public Works and MTU.

 

Chloe Maguire is an independent curator and arts worker. Her research-led practice focuses on exhibition making, lived experience and community engagement, particularly through Mothering Spaces, her curatorial platform exploring motherhood and female health through artistic practice, research and dialogue. She has collaborated with Muine Bheag Arts, Cavan Arts Festival and the Birth Rites Collection UK, bringing artists and communities together to develop thoughtful, research-led projects.