tools in the process with rhona byrne featuring norman mooney, ruth shortt, and jp coyle

Join us for an experiential artist talk with interdisciplinary artist Rhona Byrne based in Dublin, Ireland and co-founders of Workspace11 and WORKS artists-in-residence Norman Mooney, Ruth Shortt and JP Coyle.

Tools in the Process invites the audience to a demo of metal forging; experimentation with performative artworks; and a dialogue around shared insights into material-led processes and interdisciplinary practice. During the conversation attendees are invited to make their own handheld sculpture to become part of a collective artwork.

Rhona Byrne is a visual and socially engaged artist who creates context-specific projects, public sculptures, objects, photographs, installations, and performative artworks that explore the relationships between people, place, materiality and collective experience. Together, Byrne and Mooney will explore Rhona’s dyadic sculptures originally made during a residency in Works artist residency in 2019 and other public art projects such as The Scribble and her more recent projects, including her latest public sculpture commission in Dublin, Restless : Liffey Love 2024. Liffey Love is a public art project created using waste plastic collected from the River Liffey and transformed into two love seat sculptures, Restless, now installed along the Liffey quaysides. Byrne collaborated with the Irish Nautical Trust and the Liffey Sweeper to gather plastic waste.

Bios

Rhona Byrne
Visual and socially engaged artist Rhona Byrne, based in Dublin, works across performative and social sculpture, making sculptural spaces, installations, relational objects, drawing, video and photography. Often responding to a site or context, her practice is connective, with a collaborative and cross-disciplinary approach. Her projects are ongoing explorations into the complex multi-dimensionality of physical and social space and the unstable emotional conditions of place and affect. Her works invite a spatial embodied and connective experience and an inquiry into the material world. Recent public art commissions include Restless: Liffey Love, two love seat sculptures made from repurposed plastic waste rescued from the River Liffey in Dublin, Commissioned by Dublin City Council and The Scribble, a site responsive sculpture Maynooth University Dublin. Rhona graduated with a BFA Sculpture NCAD in 1994 and is currently a researcher with LSAD and Applied Polymer Technologies. Rhona is a part time lecturer in Sculpture and Combined Media LSAD TUS. Rhona has exhibited and has been commissioned extensively in Ireland and internationally such as FAAP Sao Paulo , The Mattress Factory Pittsburgh, UCD, Parity Studios, Gertrude Contemporary Melbourne. She has been supported with numerous awards from the Arts Council of Ireland. Her work is in several collections including the Arts Council of Ireland and the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

Norman Mooney
Norman Mooney was born in Dublin Ireland in 1971. He studied at the Crawford College of Art and Design in Cork and completed his BFA at the National College of Art in Dublin, 1992. He then received the distinguished honor of participating in the Third Degree program at the Irish Museum of Modern Art from 1992 to 1993. In 1994 he relocated to New York City and has been exhibiting locally and internationally for more than 20 years. Recent exhibitions include Lightscape at Brooklyn Botanic Garden in New York, Nanhai Art Festival in Guangdong China, and Carolina Sardi & Norman Mooney at Waterhouse & Dodd in New York.
Norman makes works that are at once physical and metaphysical. His works explore the elemental and cyclical synergies of nature. Materiality, pattern, scale, and experience are key concerns within his practice. Norman makes sculptures, interior and exterior installations, drawings, and works on paper, his methodology is one of experimentation and process with materials such as smoke, glass, steel, and resin.

Ruth Shortt
Ruth Shortt is a Glass Artist and Designer who initially began her career specializing in the fabrication of glassworks for contemporary artists and architectural firms while simultaneously pursuing a career in contemporary glass sculpture. Major art installations include the Mint Museum in North Carolina, and private collections in New York City and Ireland. Ruth has worked in different capacities at leading Glass Art facilities such as Waterford Crystal- Ireland, Pilchuck Glass Center- Seattle and Urban Glass Brooklyn, both in administrative and creative roles. In 2006 she co-founded the company Workspace11, with her partner Norman Mooney, specializing in the fabrication of Architectural Glass and Metal Work. Ruth lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

JP Coyle
JP Coyle is an arts administrator and director of operations with years of experience in large-scale fabrication and art production. With a passion for creative problem-solving, he specializes in bridging the gap between concept and execution, helping artists and designers expand their practices through innovative fabrication methodologies. JP has worked extensively in the realms of fine art, design, and architectural fabrication, developing efficient workflows and technical solutions for ambitious projects. His expertise lies in material exploration, production strategy, and navigating the complexities of large-scale installations—ensuring that artistic vision is realized without compromise. From managing fabrication teams to coordinating complex installations, JP thrives in the intersection of creativity and precision.