A detailed painting in blue and green hues of a shelf with book and various files

Lauren Conway Residency

Dublin-based artist Lauren Conway was in residence at Studio Voltaire from July to September 2024.

Through the processes of drawing, painting and collaborative practice, Conway seeks to tease out collective memories of state-provided learning spaces. A running concern throughout this work is a desire to explore empty educational spaces as a way of questioning and challenging aspirational promises put forward by ‘the state’, through formal education.

During the residency, Conway continued her ongoing research, which centred around three family members' engagement with state-run educational spaces.

Conway investigates the cognitive and emotional dissonance that emerges between the built environment and academia compared to personal interests and ideas. She explores the complex filing systems developed by her twin sister during her biopharmaceutical chemistry studies at university, alongside independent studies in astrology and crystal healing.

Through the use of public archives, documentation from site visits, found images and collaborative practices, her work aims to unlock a space to forge new connections beyond the educational.

Supported using public funding by The Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon

Lauren Conway (b.1999, Galway) is a Dublin-based artist. Conway graduated from the Institute of Art, Design and Technology Dún Laoghaire in 2021 and has also studied at the University of the Arts Helsinki and the Royal Hibernian Academy School. She is the recipient of RHA Graduate Studio Award 2022, The Arts Council Bursary Award 2022, The DLR/IADT Emerging Artist Bursary 2021, and The Dock/IADT Graduate Award 2021 for her graduate exhibition A Great Public Meeting.
Recent exhibitions include Things Changed, Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, (2024), Lockjaw, Ranelagh Arts, (2023), Remembering the Future, VISUAL Carlow (2023), A Great Public Meeting, The Dock (2022), Rendering New Realities, Access and Alterity, The Douglas Hyde (2021), and Karen, Ormond Art Studios (2021). Conway is currently working towards a solo exhibition at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin in early 2025.
@_lauren_conway / laurenconway.com
Lauren Conway, All of the People, All of the Time, 2024. 170 x 85cm, oil on canvas. Courtesy of the artist. Credit Alex Keatinge and Richard Harvey
Lauren Conway, Portrait of my brother Corleck Head, 2023. 42 x 30 cm, ink on paper. Courtesy of the artist. Credit Alex Keatinge and Richard Harvey
Lauren Conway, A quiet that doesn't feed you, 2024. 100 x 40 cm, oil on canvas. Courtesy of the artist. Credit Stephanie Deady
Lauren Conway, Valero Energy Corporation Children's Art Competition, 1971, 2021. 15 x 15 cm, pencil on paper. Courtesy of the artist. Credit Alex Keatinge and Richard Harvey