exhibitions & events 2019

Fionnuala McGowan

Fionnuala McGowan’s practice explores the link between three-dimensional objects or surfaces and illusionistic reproductions. Through a combination of print and sculpture, raw materials and photographic images she creates prints that have a strong tactile and textural quality, focusing on the simplicity of form.

This series of work focuses on paper, expanding its role within printmaking by giving it a more active part in the creative process. The prints explore the physical qualities of paper such as the texture of folded and crumpled sheets as well as using paper itself to build up collagraph plates.

Using unconventional methods and materials is a recurring theme in McGowan’s work. In her collagraph prints, for example, she uses iron and copper powder instead of ink to play with the boundaries of print while at the same time alluding to traditional etching.

Fionnuala McGowan was born in Belfast and now lives and works in Glasgow. She studied Painting and Printmaking at the Glasgow School of Art graduating in 2014 with a First Class BA (Hons), during which time she spent a semester at l'École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris and completed a residency at Frans Masereel Centrum, Belgium.

In 2015 McGowan co-founded Mobile Print Studio, a partnership dedicated to promoting printmaking in Scotland, whilst also working as a technician in the Glasgow School of Art. She has exhibited across the UK and Ireland and has been featured in Printmaking Today.

Image: Fionnuala McGowan