nímhur
(Photo credit: Mel Maclaine)
IRISH VISUAL ARTIST
Bláthnaid Ní Mhurchú, working as an artist under the moniker nímhur, is a bilingual (English & Gaelainn), Dublin-based visual artist, having moved from the rebel county of Cork in 2005 to study fine art painting in the capital’s National College of Art & Design (NCAD)
nímhur is interested in the language of drawing, in its ability to act as a thought mechanism; as a tactile conduit and as a vehicle to interweave layers of information. She interrogates visual expression as a means to push the boundaries of contemporary drawing and as a way to conjure up different modes of imagining.
Her work is grounded in sociological, political, and ecological themes, shifting fluidly across mediums and processes to create pieces that invite the viewer into a deeper connection with the wild feminine and the world we inhabit.
Fáilte ~ Welcome
exhibitionS
‘Deabhóidí’ (DEVOTIONS)
48th CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAl
Co. Galway, IRELAND, SEP 17-28 (2025)
“Deabhóidí” is the working title for the exhibiting of three rugs (3/14) from a series of fourteen in progress entitled
“The Stations of Physical and Spiritual Transformation”
nímhur was fascinated with the Stations of the Cross as a child and is still in awe of the theatre contained within them. She has worked with Ceadogán Rugmakers to produce these vibrantly-coloured tufted planes, which are based on the sacramental structure of the Stations.
These rugs, as wall hangings, represent an expanded vision of drawing where the wool plots the line as a means of communicating ideas; each tableau a repository for stories and a platform which activates a site of protest on which the newly-imagined truth of a scene unfolds.
Each Deabhóid is a reflection on the lives of contemporary women, both as Victim & Hero, through a lens that focuses less on the inequities and brutality at play but instead elevates their strength and power as transmitters of meaning.
‘They stand their vigil in gowns of stone’
Pencil, graphite powder, charcoal on paper, 57 x 76cm
WINNER OF THE Irish Art Services AWARD AT THE 2nd Ballinglen Museum of Art Biennale (2025)
This work was made in response to Ireland’s Mother & Baby institutions, specifically the site of the Tuam Mother & Baby home currently being excavated.