RE-INTRODUCING GROUP 8

Group 8 are now ten and to celebrate the arrival of our newest member, Walter Coughlan, here are bio notes for each member of the collective:

Tommy Campbell is a sculptor working in the medium of Bog Oak. He is inspired by his surroundings and the materials he uses. Mainly a self-taught artist, he has had workshops with Dutch sculptor Peter Kooning and the late Brian Little.

Walter Coughlan is a ceramicist. He studied Art and Design in Limavady college of Further and Higher Education, Co. Derry, completing a diploma in 2004, specialising in print photography and ceramics. He then went to Limerick college of Art and Design, doing product design in ceramics completing a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 2009. Walter runs the Kilconnell Art Space, where he teachers ceramics and pottery and holds occasional exhibitions.

Brendan Greally graduated from GMIT in 1998 with a Diploma in Art & Design and from Crawford College of Art & Design in 1999 with a Degree in Fineart. He is a highly versatile painter who engages with a variety of thematics that share a common thread – that of his immediate environment. The artistic treatment of his subject matter is carefully, and consistently considered in his sophisticated methods of paint application.

Grellan Ganly has a Degree in Art & Design from GMIT. His work is heavily influenced by history, particularly that of Irish folklore and Celtic mythology. He works in both oil painting and kiln fired ceramics. Both media possess an underlying fluidity and mystery that combine in a way that constantly challenges the viewer as to the various layers of meaning contained in his work.

Joyce Little is a visual artist working in the medium of paint, print and installation. Her area of interest is that of the contemporary woman. Her work is thought provoking, culturally critical and at times irreverently humorous and satirical. She studied in Grafton Academy of Fashion Design, NCAD, GMIT, and she holds an MA in Visual Arts Practice from IADT. She recently attained a Diploma in Youth Arts from NUI Maynooth.

Zara Little-Campbell is a writer from Ballinasloe. She attained an MA in Creative Writing from Trinity College, Carmarthen in Wales. Her poetry has been published in Sigla and Crannóg. She co-edited Rewind and a selection of her poetry was published in the same anthology. Zara won the Jonathan Swift Award for poetry in 2008 with her poem ‘Sycamore Trees’ and was shortlisted for the Short Story Award in 2009.

Nuala Ní Chonchúir is a short story writer, novelist and poet, born in Dublin and living in Ballinasloe. Her fourth short story collection Mother America was published by New Island in May 2012. Nuala’s chapbook Of Dublin and Other Fictions will be published this month in the USA; her second novel will be out spring 2014. www.nualanichonchuir.com

Fiona Ormsby is a Textile Artist who graduated with a Degree in Art and Design from GMIT in 2006 and an Honours Degree in textiles from GMIT in 2007. She also completed a H. Dip Art Education in Crawford College of Art and Design. Her main area of inspiration is the natural landscape and the intermingling of nature with modern building and technology. She works primarily in the medium of textiles and predominantly through machine free hand embroidery.

John Soden was born in 1973. He is a self taught artist and from an early age had a keen interest in drawing and painting. He studied Art at Leaving Cert level at St. Joseph’s College, Ballinasloe. John paints in oils which are best suited to his impressionistic and expressive style of painting. He has exhibited pieces at the Kilconnell Community Arts Event in 2010 and held a solo exhibition of his work in April 2011, as part of the East Galway Art Trail. John also exhibited paintings in Anton’s café, Galway in September 2011. 

Úna Spain graduated from GMIT in 1997 with a Diploma in Art & Design and was awarded an Honours Degree in Photography from DIT in 2009. Her most recent body of work consists of photography, Super 8 film and a limited edition artists book collectively entitled Marking Time which looked at three ‘erstwhile’ sites in Ballinasloe and people formerly associated with them. The critic Aidan Dunne described this work as a ‘brilliant, composite insight into the social and psychological reality of change on a local scale in Ireland’ (Irish Times, June 17, 2009). Úna exhibited at Tulca and The Kenny Gallery in 2011.