BIOGRAPHY
Shania McDonagh a multidisciplinary visual artist from Co. Mayo, in the west of Ireland. In 2020, she graduated with a first-class honours Degree in Contemporary Art from the Centre for Creative Arts and Media, GMIT, and is currently undertaking a Masters in Creative Practice at CCAM.
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Her work draws from a variety of disciplines including science, philosophy, literature and mythology. Recently, her study has led her to undertake research placements in the Anatomy Department at NUIG.
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McDonagh has won numerous national awards, and in 2020, was awarded the Academic Achievement Award for BA Contemporary Art. In 2015, she was part of the exhibition ‘Mayo God Help Us’, at Claremorris Gallery, selected by Patrick T Murphy, director of RHA and Catherine Marshall, former head of Collections at IMMA. She has exhibited work both nationally; in Dublin city Hugh Lane Gallery, The Hunt Museum Limerick, Highlanes Gallery Drougheda, Cork Vision Centre, and internationally; at The International High School Arts Festival in Tokyo, Japan.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My practice examines The Human and its bodily condition, driven through an obsessive inquiry into concepts of skin, materiality, otherness, duality, and the dimensions and limitations of the physical body. The work is realised through an intensive interdisciplinary approach, incorporating an extensive range of materials and processes, from tapes, glues, foams and found objects to oil painting, photography and wax modelling. I draw from a variety of disciplines including science, philosophy, literature and mythology, and works will often reference art history, religious iconography and historical medical illustration.
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I am fascinated by the human form and how we as humans are bound in a way by the extent of our own skins. In an effort to explore how humans can push beyond our mortal coils, I have recently began employing both digital and augmented realities, exploring and posing the question will the human form die, thrive or learn to co-exist, should these realities become ubiquitous.
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Harbouring dualities of real and artificial, inside and outside, presence and absence, life and death, the works probe these existential concerns through an explorative and often playful sensibility. The exhaustive, immersive and unrelenting nature of my studio methodology, manifests as a deep questioning, which efforts to enhance an empathetic fathoming of what it means to be human.
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Curriculum Vitae
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Shania McDonagh
Website: shaniamcdonagh1.wixsite.com/website
Mobile No: 086 1684698
Education
2020 BA Hons Contemporary Art, First Class Honours, Centre for Creative Arts and Media, Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, Ireland
2021 Current. Masters in Creative Practice, Centre for Creative Arts and Media, GMIT, Galway, Ireland
Solo Exhibitions
2009 Claremorris Library, Claremorris, Co. Mayo
Group Exhibitions
2020 Not a Degree Show, Connaught Tribune Printworks, Galway
2019 Coast, Main Foyer, GMIT Dublin Road campus, Galway
2018 Westival, Westport Arts Festival, The Custom House Gallery, Co. Mayo
Portrait Elective Exhibition, The Long Hall Gallery, GMIT, Chluainn Mhuire campus, Galway.
2015 Mayo God Help Us, Claremorris Gallery, (selected by Patrick T Murphy, director of RHA and Catherine Marshall, former head of Collections at IMMA), Claremorris, Co. Mayo
2014 International High School Arts Festival, National Art Centre, Tokyo, Japan
Limerick City of Culture, The Hunt Museum, Limerick
Texaco Art Competition, Winners Exhibition Tour, Dublin City Hugh Lane Gallery/The Ulster Museum, Belfast/ Cork Vison Centre, Cork City/ Highlanes Art Gallery, Drogheda/ The Hunt Museum, Limerick City
2012 International High School Arts Festival, National Art Centre, Tokyo, Japan
Texaco Art Competition, Winners Exhibition Tour, Dublin City Hugh Lane Gallery/The Ulster Museum, Belfast/ Cork Vison Centre, Cork City/ Highlanes Art Gallery, Drogheda/ The Hunt Museum, Limerick City
2011 Texaco Art Competition, Winners Exhibition Tour, Dublin City Hugh Lane Gallery/The Ulster Museum, Belfast/ Cork Vison Centre, Cork City/ Highlanes Art Gallery, Drogheda/ The Hunt Museum, Limerick City
2010 Texaco Art Competition, Winners Exhibition Tour, Dublin City Hugh Lane Gallery/The Ulster Museum, Belfast/ Cork Vison Centre, Cork City/ Highlanes Art Gallery, Drogheda/ The Hunt Museum, Limerick City
Awards/Scholarships
2020 GMIT Academic Achievement Award, BA Hons in Contemporary Art, GMIT, Galway
2016 GMIT Academic Scholarship for Centre for Creative Arts and Media, GMIT, Galway
Winner, Credit Union Art Competition, National Level, Dublin
2015 Winner, Credit Union Art Competition, National Level, Dublin
2014 First Prize and Overall Winner, Texaco Art Competition, Dublin
Winner, Credit Union Art Competition, National Level, Dublin
2013 First Prize, Texaco Art Competition, Dublin
Winner, Credit Union Art Competition, National Level, Dublin
2012 First Prize, Texaco Art Competition, Dublin
Runner Up, Credit Union Art Competition, Chapter Level, Co. Mayo
Gold Medal, All-Ireland, HSE Community Games, Art Competition, Athlone
2011 First Prize, Texaco Art Competition, Dublin
Merit, Credit Union Poster Competition, National Level, Dublin
Gold Medal, All-Ireland, HSE Community Games, Art Competition, Athlone
2010 First Prize, Texaco Art Competition, Dublin
Winner, Credit Union Poster Competition, National Level, Dublin
Gold Medal, All-Ireland, HSE Community Games, Art Competition, Athlone
Selected Publications/ Reviews /Press/ Interviews
2019 Featured Interview, Art Down to a Tea! Talented GMIT sculptor crafts conversation stopper from old cloth and used teabags, Galway City Tribune, Galway, Ireland. May issue
2015 Featured Interview, Artist Spotlight: Shania McDonagh, Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, USA December
2014 Featured Artist, Irish Arts Review Magazine, Dublin. June issue
Featured Video, Timpeall na Tíre, Nuacht TG4, Ireland. May
Featured Interview, Drawing or Photograph? ART-SCENE.TV, Germany. May issue
Featured Artist, Shania McDonagh and 4 Other Adolescent Artists Who Are More Talented Than You, Bustle Digital Group, NYC, USA. April
Featured Artist, Claremorris student wins Texaco Art Competition, Mayo Advertiser, Co. Mayo, April
Featured Artist, Pencil portrait wins Texaco Art Prize for Mayo teenager, The Irish Times, Ireland, April
Featured Artist, Sixteen-Year-Old Artist Wins National Art Competition with Masterful Hyper-Realistic Pencil Portrait, Colossal Visual Art Blog, Chicago, USA, April
2013 Featured Artist, Irish Independent, Ireland, May
2012 Featured Artist, Live Video Interview, The Late Late Show, RTE, National Television, Ireland, April
2011 Featured Artwork, The Late Late Show, RTE, National Television, Ireland, April
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Commissions/Collections
2020 Commissioned Artwork, HSE Portrait series commission, Residents of St. Rita’s House, Claremorris, Co. Mayo
2014 2010 Works in Texaco Art Competition, Permanent Collection, Dublin
2012 Commissioned Artwork, Claremorris Swimming Pool, Permanent Public Collection, Co. Mayo
2011 Commissioned Portrait, Presentation for An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, Private Collection
2008 Commissioned Artwork, Melic Mór National School, Permanent Collection, Claremorris, Co. Mayo
2007 Commissioned Artwork, Gealscoil Uilleog de Búrca, Permanent Collection, Claremorris, Co. Mayo
Professional Experience
2019 Research Placement, NUIG Anatomy Department, Galway
2015 Work experience, Claremorris Gallery, Claremorris Co. Mayo, Documenting and cataloguing gallery collection, 5 days
2014 Culture Night Ambassador, Dublin Bus, Dublin, Sketch Artist - Drawing portraits of Dublin bus passengers on Culture Night.
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