Bio
Dr. Martina Cleary is an artist, writer and researcher based in the West of Ireland. She holds a PhD from the European Centre for Photographic Research e(CPR), an MEd from Aalto University of Art, Design & Architecture, Helsinki, and an MA from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki. She currently lectures at The Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) and is Principal Investigator of the ADEPT Research Group. Over the past two decades her work has been presented in over 11 countries, supported by the Arts Councils of Ireland, Finland and Canada, CREATE Ireland, The National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching & Learning Ireland, The Finnish Institute London, The Finnish Cultural Foundation and various regional Arts Offices both nationally and internationally. She has served on the Board of Directors of PhotoIreland, the TUS Academic Council and been an invited artist, consultant or lecturer for GMIT, The EU Urban Development Project Helsinki, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, The School of Visual Arts Imatra, The Free Arts School of Helsinki, Cardiff School of Art & Design and Moore College of Art & Design Philadelphia. Her research areas of focus include; Neurodiversity in Art & Education, New Media & Immersive Technologies, and Socially Engaged Practices.
EXHIBITIONS
2024/25 Flaneur, New Urban Narratives Revisited, Portugal (Dec 2024-Feb 2025).
2022 Re-Visioning The Screen, collaborative online VR work with Janelle Pewapsconias, in association with Paved Arts Canada and Glór Ennis.
2021 Testing, Testing: World-Wide Web, invited artist for international collaborative project with curator Moran Been-Noon.
ZOE, online VR exhibition of collaborative work made with Sherry Erskine, in Iceland (2019).
2019 Ritual Dream of The Shaman, exhibition of studio practice, the New Gallery of the Luan Athlone, Ireland.
The Blue Wind, Photobook prototype shown with Read That Image, at The Arles International Photography Festival, 2019, France.
Halftone, PhotoIreland Annual Print Exhibition at The Library Archive, Dublin.
2017 Flaneur New Urban Narratives, Format 2017, Derby, UK
Flaneur New Urban Narratives, Project Catalogue, published by Procurate.
2016 Flaneur New Urban Narratives - Perspectives, Cité Internationale Des Universitaire de Paris, France.
The Suitcase Archive, The Courthouse Gallery, Ennistymon, Ireland.
They Glide Like Birds, Single And In Groups Over The Roads, Glór, Ennis, Ireland.
2015 At Night We Dreamed of Tall Ships, Procur:arte Flaneur New Urban Narratives, Lisbon, Portugal.
Tiblisi Photo Festival, Kolkata, Georgia.
Just Another Photo Festival, New Delhi, India.
Obscura Festival, George Town, Malaysia.
Athens Photo Festival 2015, Main Exhibitions at the Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece, with work published in accompanying catalogue.
Doing The Rounds, with Sherry Erskine, Avenue C Studio, New York, USA.
Format 2015, Derby, UK, with work published in accompanying exhibition catalogue.
Impressions Biennale 2015, Galway, Ireland.
In Your Dreams, Photoplace Gallery, Vermont, Canada.
Annual G126 Members Show, Galway, Ireland.
2014 Describing Architecture, Place And Memory, The Irish Georgian Society, Dublin, Ireland.
2012 Turning Point, Glór Ennis, Ireland.
Turning Point, The Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny, Ireland.
Turning Point, Limerick Printmakers, Ireland.
2011 Turning Point, The RHA Ashford Gallery, Dublin, Ireland.
The Outside Is Inside, The Courthouse Gallery Ennistymon, Ireland.
Rianta, Ground-Up Artist Collective Show, Ennis, Ireland.
2010 Invisible, Black Church Print Studios, Dublin, Ireland.
Summer Show, Stone Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
Monster Truck Gallery at the Irish Museum of Contemporary Art, Dublin, Ireland.
The Dublin Art Fair, with Monster Truck Gallery, RDS, Dublin, Ireland.
2009 Art@Work Residency Exhibition, Cruchan Ai Heritage Centre, Roscommon, Ireland, with work published in accompanying catalogue. 2008 Things That Go Bump, Monster Truck Gallery, Dublin, Ireland.
Impressions Biennale 2008, Galway, Ireland.
EV+A International 2008, Limerick City Gallery, Ireland, with work published in accompanying catalogue
Transducers, Limerick Printmakers, Ireland.
G126 Presents, Catalyst Arts, Belfast, UK,
G126 Members Annual Show, Galway, Ireland.
Christmas Show, The Talbot Gallery, Dublin, Ireland.
2007 G126 at The Galway Art Centre, Ireland.
2006 G126, Two Person Show with Anne Madden, Galway, Ireland.
Sommerwende International Arts Festival, Gallery 24, Berlin, Germany.
Helsinki Artists Association Annual Show, Rantakasarmi Gallery, Helsinki, Finland.
2005 Babylon, Gallery Vuoksi, Helsinki, Finland.
Taru II, Lasipalatsi Media Centre, Helsinki, Finland.
Arteeki Artists Collective, Gallery Vuoksi, Helsinki, Finland.
2004 Transformation, Lasipalatsi Media Centre, Helsinki, Finland.
City of Helsinki Artists House, Annual Show, Vuotalo, Helsinki, Finland.
2001 365 Days - 19 Hours, Porvoo Art Hall, Finland.
Kerava Artists Association, Annual Show, Kerava Museum, Finland.
RESIDENCIES
2019 SIM Iceland, Artist/ Guest for research project in collaboration with Sherry Erskine.
2015 Procur:arte Flaneur Project, invited artist, Lisbon, Portugal.
2008 Art@Work, selected artist, Cruchan Ai Heritage Centre, Roscommon, Ireland.
2006 Belmont Mills, selected international artist, Offaly, Ireland.
Cite International Des Artes, Paris, France.
BOOKS
Cleary, M. (2025) Taken by the Others, The Danger of Being Feral, Book chapter in Gone Feral: Unruly Women and the Undoing of Normative Femininity, Demeter Press, Ontario.
Cleary, M. (2024) The Re-Generative Potential of Myth in Re-Constituting the Missing Mother, Book chapter in The Missing Mother, Demeter Press, Ontario.
Cleary, M. (2023) Ritual Dream of The Shaman, Artists book chapter in Digital Art in Ireland, Ed. James O’Sullivan & Aoibhe McCarthy, Blackwell Publishing, Cork.
Cleary, M. (2021) Staring At A Painted Sky, TLP Editions, PhotoIreland, Dublin.
Cleary, M. (2019) Ritual Dream of The Shaman, Artists work in exhibition catalogue Re-Imagine, The Luan Gallery, Athlone.
'Flaneur New Urban Narratives’, Exhibition Catalogue, published by Procur.arte Lisbon, (2016).
’Re-Frame Memory’, The Athens International Photography Festival 2015, exhibition catalogue published by HCP Hellenic Centre for Photography, Athens, (2015).
’Format 2015- Evidence’, Exhibition Catalogue, by QUAD Publishing Derby,(2015).
’Art@Work’, Residency Catalogue, published by Roscommon County Council,(2008).
EV+a (2008) Too Early For Vacation’, Exhibition Catalogue, Gandon Distribution,(2008).
Conferences/Symposia
Cleary, M. (2025) The Re-Generative Potential of Myth in Re-Constituting the Missing Mother, paper for forthcoming conference Matricentric Feminisms, York University, Toronto.
Cleary, M. (2024) Generative AI, Synthetic Memory and the Digital Re-Imaging of Past, Present and Future Ideas of Home, practitioner paper for the 2nd Symposium on Digital Art in Ireland, UCC.
Cleary, M. (2024) Practice-Based Research Methods for Doctoral Studies, paper for Reflecting on Decolonising Research and Development through an Indigenous and Feminist Lens, DSAI Summer School, TUS.
Cleary, M. (2023) Using Accessible VR for Interdisciplinary Teaching Learning and Collaboration, paper for the ILTA Ed Tech Conference, Dublin.
Cleary, M. (2023) The Well At The Bottom of The Sea, paper for the International Conference for the Association for the Study of Women and Mythology, New York.
Cleary, M. (2023) Defective Concrete Blocks in County Clare, paper presented to the PETI Committee of the European Parliament, during their fact-finding mission to Donegal.
Cleary, M. (2022) The Crumbling Homes of County Clare, presentation for the interdisciplinary conference Losing Your Home, The Impacts of Defective Concrete Blocks in Ireland, TUS.
Cleary, M. (2021) Trauma, Healing & Transformation – The Potential of the Symbolic Order of the Mother, paper for the conference The Hidden Mother, University of Bolton, UK.
Cleary, M. (2015) The Photograph as a Site of Mnemonic Return, Using the Photograph to Preserve, Construct and Trigger Memory for the Research Seminars, Art, Memory, Place, IMMA.
Cleary, M. (2015) Playing with The Evidence: Reconstituting the Photographic Trace as an Act of Intervention, Disruption, and Political Agency for the International Format 15 Conference, Derby, UK.
Cleary, M. (2014) Walking the City at Night – The Gothic Undertow of Surrealist Visions of Paris in Andre Breton's Nadja, for the Locating The Gothic Conference, Limerick School of Art and Design.
Cleary, M. (2014) Dorothea Lange’s Images of Ireland as Sites of Mnemonic Return, University of South Wales.
Other Presentations
Cleary, M. (2023-24) The Impact of Defective Concrete Blocks on Homeowners in County Clare, three presentations to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, based upon four year practice-based, community-engaged research project.
Media Coverage (Extract)
Dannaher, D. Fresh worries for pyrite homes as foundation risk identified , The Clare Champion, 03.05.2024.
Clare FM Morning Focus, Calls For Urgent Clarity On Mortgage Value Of Clare Pyrite Impacted Homes, 02.05.2024
Clare FM Morning Focus, Clare Pyrite Action Chair Throws Hat Into Local Election Ring Amid Redress Frustration, 21.03.2024.
McMahon, P. Sinn Féin announce Martina Cleary as Killaloe MD election candidate, The Clare Echo, 28.03.2024.
Danaher, D. Clare Pyrite Action Group chair joins Sinn Féin local election ticket, The Clare Champion, 29.03.2024.
Dannaher, D. No end to pyrite pain despite opening of grant scheme, The Clare Champion, 01.10.2023.
Danaher, D. Homeowners being hampered by ‘cumbersome’ application process, The Clare Champion, 25.08.2023.
McGarry, F. Finish line in sight for pyrite homeowners, The Clare Champion, 07.07.2023.
McGarry,F. Terms of pyrite scheme are ‘grossly offensive’ says CPAG, 21.07.2023.
McMahon, P. Minister O’Brien signs off on regulations to approve redress for Clare pyrite homeowners, The Clare Echo, 07.07.2023.
McMahon, P. Redress for pyrite homes in Clare approved but companies behind defective blocks must be pursued, The Clare Echo, 07.07.2023.
Clare FM, Fears Further Challenges Await Clare Pyrite Affected Homeowner in Wake Of Redress Scheme Announcement, 04.07.2023.
Clare FM, Clare Pyrite Action Group Tells Oireachtas That Enhanced Redress Scheme is Not Acceptable, 14.07.2023.
McGarry, F. Action group founder warns of widespread blocks problems, The Clare Champion, 01.07.2022.
McGarry, F. Tensions mount as blocks bill is ‘rammed through’, The Clare Champion, 08.07.2022.
McMahon, P. Pyrite Action Group founder disgusted by Clare TD votes, 07.07. 2022.
Flynn, P. Clare to be included in pyrite redress scheme, The Clare Herald, 14.06.2022.
McGarry, F. More than 1,000 homes in Clare could have pyrite, The Clare Champion, 03.06.2022
‘The Best Visual Art Shows This Week’, by Aidan Dunne, The Irish Times, 06.07.2019
‘A Dark Domesticity: Echoes of Folklore in Irish Contemporary Gothic’, by Dr. Tracy Fahey in The Gothic and The Everyday, The Palgrave Gothic Series (2013-18).
‘One Must Assume the Feminine Role Deliberately’ : Comparing Nancy Spero and Martina Cleary’s Mimetic Strategies – by Rachel Wariner, The Comparative Literature Association of Ireland Conference, UCC June 2012.
The Clare Champion, ‘A Turning Point for Mother-Daughter Relationships’, by Owen Ryan, 23.03.2012.
Prism Photo Magazine, Featured Photographer, Jan-Feb 2012.
The Clare Champion, ‘Photo Series Explores Domestic Violence’ by Dan Danaher, 17.06.2011.
RTE Nationwide, interview on the Art@Work Residency at Cruachan Ai, 19.05.2010
The Irish Times, The Ticket, 02.01.2009, by Aidan Dunne.
‘Art@Work’, Residency Catalogue, published by Roscommon County Council, 2008.
The Irish Arts Review, ‘OPEN/INVITED EV+a 2008, by Marianne O’Kane Baol, Spring 2008.
EV+a (2008) Too Early For Vacation’, Exhibition Catalogue, Gandon Distribution, 2008.
The Irish Times, ‘Artists in The House’, by Aidan Dunne, 12.09.2006.
HBL Helsinki Swedish Daily, ‘From Japanese Woodcuts to Girls Comics’, by Anne Rouhiainen, 16.11.2005.
HBL (Cultural Supplement featured artist), ‘When Hunting The Ego’, by Annika Rentola. 28.03.2004.
The Helsinki Sanomat,’ The Process Based Art of Martina Cleary, by Anne Rouhiainen, 17.04.2004.
Ny Tid (Swedish Cultural Magazine), ‘Struggle for Insight’, by Bianca Gresbeck, 06.04.2004.
Uusimaa (Daily Finnish Newspaper), ‘From the Small Painting to the Installation’, by Maarit Uusikumpu, 05.06.2001.
Pohjolan Sanomat, ‘Looking at the Buddhist World View’, 15.04.2000, by Soile Seppa.
The Helsinki Sanomat, ‘The Spirit of Eastern Painting’, 04.12.1999, by Marja-Terttu Kivirinta.