In the making: Aorta at Pallas Projects/Studios, 2024. Works from left, Ella Sexton, Michelle McGeown, Lorraine Ene, Ellen Clifford, Vanda Brown (foreground sculpture) and Moya Woods

For three weeks in February-March 2024, IADT degreee year Art students presented their work in progress in a series of exhibitions at Pallas Projects/Studios. Established in 2015, the ongoing exhibition series In the making is an experiment in learning through exhibition-making. BA Art students worked closely with PP/S co-director Gavin Murphy and curator Eve Woods, with support from ARC students and lecturers.

The exhibitions, titled Spleen, Navel and Aorta, featured works by Megan Bass, Ross Bradley, Vanda Brown, Laura Clarke, Ellen Clifford, Alexander Cokyna, Teodora Cursaru-Pirvu, Nikkita Cowman, Molly Doyle, Ryan Egan,  Lorraine Ene, Caoimhe Farrell, Sean Farrell, Zara Hering, Jamie Howard, Paola Iacovone, Haide Itua, Hannah Jones, Carol Jordan, Joanna Kiszka, Eugene McAteer, Michelle McGeown, Aveen McKernan, Eilis McLoughlin, Ava O’Donohoe, Camille Peat, Jane Prendergast, Blaithin Ring, Emily Ryan, Ella Sexton, Richard Stone, Moya Woods.

Each exhibition included an invited public response, with contributions from Dr Georgina Jackson (Director, Douglas Hyde Gallery), Aine Osborne and Vanessa Zelek (artists and recent IADT graduates), and Mark O’Gorman (curator, The Complex).

Spleen explored disparate phenomena of social connection and disconnection, highlighting both conflict and belonging. Through media that include video, photography, textiles, painting and sculpture, many of the works in Spleen grapple with difficult issues that include toxic relationships, supressed sexualities, pressures to mask, and situations of ongoing political conflict. Yet these artists also embrace art’s potential to articulate such experiences, and make a vital connection between the realms of the individual and the collective. Further information and list of works here

Navel focuses on the human entity observed from multiple vantage points. The human figures as an anatomical structure, a physical form that is subject to internal and external forces, and a consciousness continually shaped by memories, fantasies and dreams, which might be technologically mediated. Working with performance, video, painting, drawing, installation, sculpture, sound, text, and found objects, the artists in Navel investigate how bodies are contained and constricted, but also dissolved and transformed in the realm of the virtual. Further information and list of works here

Aorta brings together many different visions of the organic world, ranging from the scientific to the fantastical. Through media that include turf, bones, ceramics, print, photography, painting, video and large-scale sculpture, the artists in Aorta articulate a fascination with organic life that is observed directly, imagined or even invented. Their works include joyful floral compositions, images of microscopic creatures, studies of coastal environments and explorations of land use, highlighting the tensions between cultural traditions and the demands of sustainability. Further information and list of works here