This print was created in conjunction with the Glasgow Print Studio 50th Anniversary Here & Now Legacy Project. McGowan’s practice is underpinned by a fascination with Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, which discusses the concept of belief versus knowledge and how this affects our interpretation of reality. In the allegory, darkness, firelight, daylight and other changes in the environment all influence the people’s judgment and their belief of what was real. Drawing inspiration from this, Fionnuala uses her work to explore human relationships to space. Physical, tangible space, digital space, illusionistic reproductions – each of these has a role in altering our spatial perception. Using a combination of print and sculpture, raw materials and photographic images she encourages the viewer to question how they interact with and understand what they are seeing. The imagery and structures she uses reference the abstract and geometric forms found within nature, architecture and science, and she often uses this imagery as a source of inspiration. She manipulates these images both digitally or through methods such as folding, crumpling or photocopying, producing works which have an illusion of space and an uncertainty as to whether they depict something natural or artificial, real or illusory. This print is part of a new archive of spaces, each one acting as a portal providing a glimpse into the artist’s memory but with an ambiguity as to whether the images depicted are real or imagined worlds.

Fionnuala McGowan was born in Belfast in 1991 and studied Fine Art: Painting and Printmaking at the Glasgow School of Art between 2012-2014. It was here she first discovered printmaking, and used it predominantly in her practice, often in combination with sculpture and installation to create immersive environments. After receiving the Glasgow Print Studio Prize in 2014 she continued to live and work in Glasgow. The Print Studio membership allowed her to continue to explore and develop the use of print in a supportive environment, using both traditional as well as more experimental methods. Her love of print also led her to co-found Mobile Print Studio, a partnership which promotes printmaking through pop-up workshops in Glasgow and occasionally further afield. She has exhibited her prints and installations across Europe, most recently in Athens after undertaking a residency there in Summer 2022.