Kinvara workshop spotlights ancient photography process

SISTERS Susan Campbell and Paula Hickey will illuminate their practice as visual artists with an exciting ‘cyanotype’ workshop at the Courthouse in Kinvara later this month. 

Ahead of the launch of their joint exhibition entitled ‘Twofold’, the acclaimed artists will discuss their creative practice and invite others to experiment with this ancient photographic technique. A workshop on Thursday, August 25, from 3pm to 5.30pm will demonstrate the process of cyanotype making. Cyanotype is a centuries-old photographic printing process that creates images in distinctive shades of dark green-blue. 

At the Kinvara event, Susan and Paula will demonstrate a new and exciting technique to harness cyanotype as a means of capturing water in flow. The creation of the cyanotypes will involve a process whereby a light-sensitive solution, used to coat a support – such as paper – reacts to whatever is placed on its surface. These experimental techniques exploit its reactive properties and register water in different states of flow.

The workshop will include a short introduction and demonstration, followed by an opportunity, weather permitting, to venture down to Kinvara Harbour and make your own cyanotypes. The beauty of the medium is that it is relatively easy to achieve impressive results. The workshop is limited to a capacity of ten people. A charge of €25 per person applied and materials and refreshments are included. 

Susan and Paula will also discuss their own work at a free session from 11am to 12pm on Wednesday, August 25. They will discuss themes and processes relevant to their creative practice. The sisters will also reflect on their ongoing collaborative venture and how this enhances and informs their individual creative practices.

The ‘Twofold’ exhibition itself is a response to the dynamic processes and equilibriums found in nature. Drawing together their convergent practices, the event is a culmination of many Zoom conversations and time spent working side by side earlier this year. Using a range of mediums, the show references water cycles, geological formations and flora, including those local to the Burren. Susan Campbell, living in County Wicklow, has an HND in Fine Art, an MPhil and PhD in Art History. Now, integrating her creative and research interests, she is concerned with natural dynamics; the structures underlying reality and the inherent relationships between things. Paula Hickey is Leeds-based and a regular visitor to Kinvara. Holding a BA in Graphic Design and an MA in Creative Practice, her process is rooted in material play, through which, she believes, more elusive aspects of our existence can be explored.

The exhibition will be launched on Friday, August 19 and will run until Sunday, August 28.

To book a place at the workshop, email Paula at allaboutart16@gmail.com