Lily O’Shea (b. 1997) is an artist and writer based in Cork concerned with political questions surrounding the contemporary labourer. Lily’s work utilizes performance, sculpture, and text to expand on the materiality of precarity while foregrounding various anxieties endured by the modern-day worker. Recent work explores the issue of sustaining an art practice while experiencing burn out, the effects of hyper-productivity and its ability to drain one’s creative resources. Lily’s research draws from reality tv, mailing lists, fiction and unfinished artworks to explore potential strategies against burnout.
Lily recently completed an associate membership with Sample-Studios, Cork, a graduate residency at Backwater Artists Group, Cork, a two-month residency at 126 Artist-Run Gallery, Galway (2021), and a desk research residency at The Guesthouse Project, Cork (2020). Recent solo exhibitions include slow puncture, Sample-studios, curated by Ali O’Shea, Lord Mayor’s Pavilion, Sep 17th – Oct 2nd, Cork (2021). Group exhibitions include; ‘A Caring Matter’, Dublin Art Book Fair 2022, curated by Rosie Lynch, Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, Dublin, 2022, host/ghost, Rebound Arts Festival, group exhibition curated by Aoife Hayes and Glenn Dunlea, St Peters Church, Cork, 2022, ‘a passive house’, presentation with Alison O’Shea at Rebel Reads, Cork (2021), MART Annual Awards Show, Dublin (2021); a passive house, a publication initiated by Cork based curator Ali O’Shea involving artists Fiona Kelly, Dori O’Connell, Mary O’Leary and Lily O’Shea (2020); Rhetoric Degree Showcase, Crawford College of Art and Design, Cork, Ireland (2020); Villa the End, Berlin Gallery Weekend, Charlottenburg, Germany (2019). Recent writing include; ‘Beyond Tokenism’, an interview with Dr. Eve Olney of Radical Institute featured in Genuinely Seeking publication edited by Rachel Botha, Bloomers, 2022, ‘foggy’ a text featured on The Paper website, The Paper, (September 2021); ‘Laggard’, a text featured on The Paper website, The Paper, (March 2021); ‘Collaborative Survival in Precarious Times’, a text featured in Hypertext (Issue 06), Bloomers Magazine, (November 2020).
E: lily.oshea.art@gmail.com
lilyoshea.wordpress.com 