Artist-in-Residence
Selma Makela
Selma Makela lives and works in Galway, Ireland, Graduating from CCAM Galway in 2007. Her painting practice references meteorological and geological phenomena as a means to explore the complexity of memory, migration and climate emergency. Making work informed by scientific research, archival images, lost and found ephemera, she explores ideas relating to distance and dislocation.
Her work has been exhibited extensively across Ireland, in the UK as well as Europe and North America. Solo exhibitions include: Bystander, The Model, Sligo (2017), Magnetic North, Galway Arts Centre (2014), and Cosmic Ray Weather Station, PEER, London (2012).
Selected Group exhibitions include Environmental Crisis, Gerald Moore Gallery, London (2020), Summer Exhibition, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin (2020), Inishlacken Project, Pollen, Belfast (2019), From Dream to Dream, Where Science Meets Art, Interface, Galway (2019), Boyle Arts Festival (2019), 9A Projects, West Yorkshire, UK (2019), Barbican Arts Trust, London (2017), Royal West of England Academy, Bristol (2017), Creekside Open, APT, London (2018), What if we got it Wrong? Touring Ireland (2016), Et si on s’était trompé?, Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris (2015).
She has been the recipient of multiple awards and residencies: Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris (2021), The Irish Arts Council (2020/ 2012/2017), Galway County Council (2020/2017), ‘Tir Saile’ Mayo County Council (2017), Leitrim Sculpture Centre (2016), Fogo Island Arts, Newfoundland Canada (2011), ‘Fleck Fellowship’ Banff Centre, Canada (2010). Her work is in multiple collections including Trinity College, Dublin, Mayo County Council, Galway City Council, private collections across Ireland, UK, Europe and Canada.