Life’s circle takes a winning turn for emerging artist Quinlan
The €20,000 award is considered one of Ireland’s most prestigious arts prizes and goes to an emerging Irish artist every year.
Ms Quinlan, 28, from Model Farm Road, Cork, was nominated for the prize by the Crawford Gallery in Cork city, from whose art school she is a graduate.
After completing her studies at the Crawford, Ms Quinlan spent time in San Francisco, before completing a masters in the National College of Arts and Design in Dublin, where she lives.
Currently, she has a studio in Dublin’s Temple Bar Studios, teaches sculpture part-time at the DIT and runs the gallery Four, in Dublin’s Birr Quay, with her husband, the artist Lee Welch.
“It’s fantastic. It’s a really great prize. It’s very supportive and creates a lot of exposure for emerging artists. In terms of profile, it’s probably one of the most important prizes,” said Ms Quinlan, after receiving her award from AIB’s group chief executive Eugene Sheehy.
Working in various media, Ms Quinlan’s installations and temporary sculptures are created directly on site. The public will get a chance to see her next solo exhibition at Cork’s Fenton gallery, from May 26.
The show, entitled Life Has Many Circles, is about “the relationship between life and death, and how closely linked they are”, said Ms Quinlan. She will have a further exhibition, in light of the award, at the Crawford gallery in 2007.
