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Images courtesy of the artist: Louise Kernaghan, 2024
July - November 2024
We are delighted to introduce Louise Kernaghan as our next 2024 Circus Fellow.
“As a visual and walking artist based in Fort William, I am interested in exploring themes of ecology, climate change, social justice and community. I’ve always been interested in the ideology of ‘wild’ places and the socially constructed human/nature divide. Throughout my years of practice as a painter, outdoor educator, and socially engaged collaborator, I have been questioning why and how we connect to our surroundings, attempting to reconcile the apparent juxtaposition between the romantic awe of natural spaces viewed through the lens of other, with the realities of modern life and the alarming pace at which we are heading towards a climate catastrophe.
Through facilitating participatory walking art projects and collaborating with other artists, the local landscape becomes the venue for collective art making, weaving together culture, nature, memories and imagined futures.
My individual visual practice continues to inform my questioning for social art projects. Recently, I have been exploring the use of mono screen-printing alongside painting to capture the feeling of seascapes and landscapes of which I have spent much of my time and takes up a lot of my memory space.
I am looking forward to the social connections, networking opportunities and project experience with other Highland based artists the fellowship will bring.” Louise Kernaghan
Louise graduated from her undergraduate degree in Painting from Edinburgh College of Art in 2013, and her MA in Art and Social Practice from the University of the Highlands and Islands in 2020. She continues to live and work in Fort William, embedding herself in the community as a part time primary teacher, part time artist, exploring all the landscapes the Highlands has to offer in her free time.
Follow on Instagram @louisekernaghan
The 2024 Fellowship has been kindly supported by The Highland Society of London - thanks to them for the ongoing support.
Louise's Reflective Blog - December 2024
What an incredible opportunity to have been offered the fellowship with Circus Artspace. I was made to feel a part of the team right away and really valued the weekly online sessions – finding out about the inner workings of an artists’ collective gave me an invaluable insight into the practicalities of delivering impressive contemporary, social and community-based art projects.
Being based in Fort William, I had often found I was out of the loop for knowing what was going on creatively across the Highland region. This fellowship positioned me right in the heart of a thriving collective community of artists and creative participants of which I thoroughly enjoyed making connections and becoming a part of. Getting involved with the Highland Zine Bothy events, Creative Mapping & Book Binding session, a screen-printing workshop for Dopamine Dolls, an early-stage creative project meeting and the studio sessions with invited artists gave me a whole load of varied experience, but also provided the space to have creative conversations with a wide range of people and contexts.
These conversations were the basis for so much learning, personal reflection and motivation to continue to make my own work at a pace I haven’t been able to for a long time. My individual art practice has and will continue to benefit from the connections I made during the fellowship as I felt seen and valued as a real artist amongst a community of inspiring and like-minded creatives.
I want to express my huge gratitude to the Circus team for your encouraging advice, support, 1-1 mentorship and creative conversations over the course of the fellowship and for making special accommodations to make it possible with my work-life and geography. I can’t wait to make more work and build on the networking opportunities post-fellowship!
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