Acclaimed artist Siobhan McDonald works with natural materials, drawing them from their cycles of generation, growth, and decay. Below, she introduces her new exhibition, Sea Bones, inspired by Dublin's ports, which travels this month to the prestigious UN Ocean Conference in Nice.
Can ports—once gateways of exchange—be reimagined as porous spaces of interspecies cohabitation?
This question is at the heart of my exhibition, Sea Bones, which explores Dublin's history as a wetland and the mythologies it holds—not only as a symbolic landscape but also as a carrier of measurable data.
I’m interested in how ports—traditionally understood as hubs of trade—can instead be imagined as fluid spaces where natural and human systems intersect.
The show is curated by María Montero Sierra, and produced by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary a leading international art and advocacy foundation created in 2002 by the philanthropist Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, and Villa Arson, the pioneering French cultural institution. The project is realised in the context BETA Festival and Adapt in Ireland.
A key point of reference is a 10th-century Book of Psalms that includes Hebrew songs and poems. Its Egyptian papyrus binding provides early, tangible evidence of trade and contact by sea between Ireland and the wider world, connecting Irish ports to the Mediterranean.
This artifact underscores the long-standing cultural and ecological significance of Irish ports as thresholds between worlds.
I'm interested in how ports—traditionally understood as hubs of trade—can instead be imagined as fluid spaces where natural and human systems intersect.
The artworks in the exhibition—primarily paintings, sculptures, and film—are made from reclaimed materials layered with sediment, referencing the global sustainability crisis. I’ve created a series of works using limestone, sediment, and crushed shells sourced from the local coastline, evoking the once-thriving wetland that shaped the port area for over 300 years.
These materials and oil-painted forms speak to natural processes that alter and move through landscapes—shifting shorelines, tidal zones, and salt marshes in a continual state of flux.
I’ll be speaking at the opening event of the UN Ocean Conference, and screening the film to an audience of policymakers and mayors from international port cities.
This second edition of S+T+ARTS4Water, titled Ports in Transformation, is made possible through a consortium of cultural and scientific partners including TBA21–Academy, WAAG, Gluon, BETA Festival, PINA, and more.
As a central actor in the project, they continue to support commitment to oceanic research and advocacy through new residencies and collaborations, in Venice's Ocean Space and online here.
I'm honoured to represent Ireland in this significant global initiative.
An exhibition of Siobhan McDonald's work will be held at the Oceans & Biennale des Arts et de l'Océan, as part of the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, from June 5–16, 2025 - find out more here.
