Artist Talk; Nina McGowen
Nina McGowan is a Dublin-born artist and professional freediver whose practice spans sculptural installation, speculative design, and performance. The body is always central to her work.
Her practice explores the physical negotiation of solid and liquid, land and sea — and the threshold states that emerge between them. This extends to the limits of consciousness encountered in deep freediving (CCI Gallery, Jan 2024); sleep as the last refuge from capitalism; and the penetration of artificial light into the body as a perpetual leash to the system (Pineal. Centrifuge. Beta, 2018–19).
Earlier works examined the body in relation to the screen, exploring ideas of 'visioneering' and world-building — specifically how mid-20th century science fiction generated such a powerful faith in the future that it is now becoming reality, brought into being by the generation that grew up inside it (Tie Fighters, 2025; and multiple works with art activist collective Loitering Theatre, 2012–2018).
It is the body that experiences the world. McGowan's work stems from a commitment to improving the quality of her own perception — using that as a vehicle to generate new awareness of, and sensitivity and empathy toward, our shared domain.
Most recently, Container (2025) — a large-scale sculptural installation developed in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin and the Creative Ireland Climate Action Fund — was shown at Wexford County Council Building. Her aim is to reset the intimate, connected relationship with the physical world that we risk losing.
Her work is framed through ideas of solastalgia, transcendence, and
the eco-gothic.
Instagram-
nina_mcgowan_artist
/
marinina_freediver
Also
www.ninamcgowan.com
/
www.loiteringtheatre.org
The event takes place at The Chapel, College Street Campus, Waterford. All are welcome and free to attend.