Mich Maroney 2026
Tattered shreds of light

Mich Maroney
Tattered Shreds of Light
8 August to 12 September 2026

A series of drawings made with soluble and insoluble coloured pencil in layers. The images are made using the simplest means, paper and pencil. Each work begins with a grid, and the images build up over time. The subject matter and colour reference the everyday world, informally and instinctively. The drawings are non-representational. The title of the series comes from a poem by the Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet. Tattered shreds of light could describe the material world beyond the physical realm. We are all in tatters, imperfect, yet full of light.

Mich will be developing a series of drawings she has been working on: Tattered Shreds of Light and contextualising them within the broader range of her practice which takes in painting, poem films and artist books. Mich is working with André Jolivet (the Director of the Centre du Livre d’Artiste en Bretagne) on an exhibition involving artist’s books to take place in Ireland and Brittany in 2027 and this time would be extremely valuable for developing ideas around her work for it.

Mich hopes to achieve greater engagement with the local community of artists and the general public for both her personal work as a visual artist but also as the editor/designer of a literary and arts journal that promotes new and emerging writers and artists. She feels the journal has a lot to offer the local creative community and the journal would benefit in turn as more local artists and writers get to know about it. Mich also arranges exhibitions at SWERVE’s pop-up gallery space for young and emerging artists as well as short residencies.

Until she moved to West Cork from London, Mich always worked as part of a large studio community (ACME – Childers Street, Deptford) which was stimulating both in terms of her work, via the exchange of ideas and practical advice, and socially. They frequently held Open Studio events, and she found that engaging with other artists and the general public was very beneficial. There was a great deal of reciprocity during the open studios; it is something that she values and find lacking as an artist who now works in a studio apart from a creative community. Mich feels that an Uillinn residency is the ideal place to engage with the wider arts community and arts audience of West Cork and would give her valuable time to concentrate away from her busy home studio/office.

Mich Maroney was born in Hong Kong and has lived in Portugal and Hungary although she spent most of her adult life in London. She now lives and works in a former doctor’s surgery in Skibbereen, County Cork, the Republic of Ireland. She works in a variety of mediums, painting, drawing, photography and print. She makes artist books and short films.

Her most recent project has been the creation of an arts and literary journal, SWERVE. SWERVE publishes new and emerging artists and writers alongside more established names and to create art/writing collaborations. SWERVE also provides short residencies for writers and artists together with a pop-up visual arts space as well as a dedicated performance space for writers.

@michmaroney @swerve_magazine michmaroney.com

Mich is in receipt of an Arts Council Literature Award 2026.

Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre acknowledges the financial support of The Arts Council  / An Chomhairle Ealaíon in making these residencies possible.