Emma Finucane
Emma develops artwork through dialogue, process based, participatory and collaborative practice. She investigates the way we connect and communicate with others and ultimately how it contributes to the quality of our lives. She is looking at the role of the artist in society and questioning how “useful” the role of art can be when entering into different areas. Her work has frequently combined education, research and artistic practice. Emma is currently Artist in Residence in UCD College of Health Sciences where I am the principle investigator on a research team with a midwifery lecturer Dr. Maria Healy (UCD) and midwife, Teresa McCreery based at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street. Together we are working on the research initiative: An interpretive phenomenological study: Illuminating childbirth experiences of women attending a midwife-led service via visual art works. Insights from this research will highlight women’s lived experiences of childbirth vis visual artworks and academic publications. The final artworks will be included in the UCD Health Sciences Library in book format as an educational tool alongside academic books. Emma studied Fine Art in NCAD where she received a first class honors degree in 1997 and a MFA in 2006. In 2014 she was awarded a place on the Arts and Health creative practitioner panel for DLR County Council to engage with local HSE funded residential and day care facilities. In 2013 she completed a public art commission for Carlow County Council was awarded a residency in the College of Science UCD and appointed to the Board of Directors in Black Church Print Studio. From 2011 to date she continues to work on an interdisciplinary team of arts and health professionals to establish the Creative Well Community Art College in Kildare. Emma has been invited to present at many seminars and symposia including Re Imagining Birth, UCD School of Humanities 2013, Art and Health Commission, Panel Presentation and Discussion VISUAL Carlow 2013, Sharing Space, Ballyfermot Senior Colllege 2010 and NCAD Art and Learning Communities 2006. She is a founding member of Outpost Studios. A member of the artist collective RAFT. She has been commissioned and supported by the Arts Council Ireland, CREATE, Wicklow, Carlow and Kildare County Councils, The Open Window Project, and Pfizer Ireland. Her work has been shown in Dublin, Belfast, Germany, U.K, L.A. and Copenhagen and can be found in many private and public collections including: OPW, AIB, DIT, and UCD. |