Bealtaine/Cork County Council/Uillinn Artist in Residence Award 2024
Fiona Boniwell
Running to a Pause…
1 to 31 May

Open studio Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday

Running to a Pause, a pause for thought and reflection. In this multi-disciplinary visual art project, Fiona Boniwell seeks to examine the theme of physical movement and her changing relationship with it as it relates to her own body over time. Fiona has always been physically active, recently focusing on martial arts in tandem with her visual arts practice. During her residency at Uillinn in 2024, Fiona will explore this theme through studio-based drawing sessions along with a programme of participatory drawing and movement workshops. Her goal is to create a new body of work arising from the research and collaborative studio sessions at Uillinn.

During my residency at Uillinn, I aim to develop the groundwork and research for my next body of work entitled Running To A Pause. This will be a multidisciplinary visual art project examining movement and my changing relationship with it as it relates to my own body over time. I will explore this theme through large-scale drawings: some figurative; some abstract and expressive. I will document the creation of the drawings using video and photography. I will also record my findings through writing, sketch-notes and mind-maps.

I have always been very physically active and have been training in martial arts in tandem with my art practice over the past fifteen years. I consider my active and creative life to be intertwined. My martial arts experience will form the foundation of my research. I am also interested in exploring what motivates myself and others to pursue physical challenges as we grow older. What are the benefits? How does an active life impact on other aspects of our being? These are just some of the questions I intend to research during my residency at Uillinn.

My primary goal is create a body of work based on the theme of movement as outlined above. Secondly, having spent the last few years working predominantly on collaborative sequential art projects using digital media, I wish to focus on self-initiated projects and to experiment with different scales of drawing: large and small scale; analogue and digital.

During my residency, I will connect with the general public through a series of drawing and movement workshops along with open studio sessions. I am eager to work with members of the public of all ages, to hear about their experiences, thoughts and feelings on the subject of physical movement as it pertains them.

Fiona Boniwell is a visual artist based in Kinsale, Ireland. She studied in London graduating from Kingston University with a BA Hons in Fine Art.
Drawing is the primary focus of her art practice. As well as large-scale drawings, her work includes collaborative illustration projects, murals, comics, and zines. In addition, Fiona is an experienced art workshop facilitator with the teaching of drawing and comic process being an important element of her art practice. She also teaches the Korean martial art of Kuk Sool Won in her local area.

instagram: fionaboniwell_art

www.boniwellgraphics.com

WCAC acknowledges the financial support of the Arts Council and Cork County Council in making these residencies possible.