Childhood footage at heart of new exhibition

‘Room Innate’ by Danny Foley brings together painting, stop-motion video, archival family footage, and small-scale sculpture in a candid exploration of the shifting nature of the self.

Open to the public until 25 September at Studio 12 Gallery on Wandesford Quay, the exhibition largely revolves around re-edited archival footage recorded by the artist’s mother, Dr Collette Nolan, a Cork-based visual artist, researcher, and fine art lecturer at MTU Crawford College of Art and Design.

Originally created as part of Nolan’s own MA and PhD research into childhood play and embodied gestures, the footage has now become material for Foley’s contemporary practice.

Nolan will join Foley for an in-conversation session at Studio 12 on 10 September at 5.30pm, where they will discuss the footage, its original context, and Foley’s reinterpretation of it, alongside the wider themes of childhood, memory, identity, and artistic development.

Foley’s practice embraces experimentation and play as a way of engaging with uncertainty rather than resolving it. Drawing on Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung’s concept of the 'shadow self' and the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, ‘Room Innate’ considers the parts of ourselves that are denied, repressed, or regarded as flawed. Rather than presenting the Minotaur as a monster to be defeated, Foley’s figures appear faint, unfinished, and already wounded, suggesting that these aspects of ourselves might require acknowledgement rather than elimination.

Reflecting on his latest work, Foley noted the importance of experimentation as a means of navigating the unknown.

“I hope the work invites audiences to reconsider ideas of self-correction and feel allowed to embrace ambiguity, empathy, and incompleteness as vital conditions of being human,” he said.

Foley graduated with a First-Class Honours BA in Fine Art from MTU Crawford College of Art and Design in 2025.

‘Room Innate’ was developed through the Backwater Artists Group Moving Image Bursary, awarded to Foley in 2025. The bursary supports a graduating moving-image artist in the transition to professional practice through a solo exhibition opportunity, mentorship, curatorial and technical support, an artist fee, and PR support.

‘Room Innate’ is now open to the public at Studio 12 Gallery, Backwater Artists Group on Wandesford Quay in Cork city where it runs until 25 September. Visiting hours are 10am-5pm, Tuesday to Friday. The in-conversation session with Foley and his mother, Dr Collette Nolan, begins at 5.30pm on 10 September. Booking is essential and can be done via Eventbrite.ie.