Launch: Saturday 19th October at 1pm-3pm

Dates: 19th October – 27th November 2024

Gallery: Upper & Lower Galleries

Golden Thread Gallery is delighted to present new work by internationally acclaimed artist Claire Morgan which has been specially commissioned with support of an Arts Council of Northern Ireland Commissioning Grant 2024. Presented as part of the Belfast International Arts Festival 2024.

Claire Morgan’s work in sculpture, drawing and painting raises fundamental questions about the role of humans and their relationship to nature. Complex three-dimensional forms made from artificial and natural materials are a frequently recurring motif. The creation of her pieces are intricate, time consuming and extremely skilled, using taxidermy, waste materials, dead animals, sculptural wax figures and human hair. Her detailed installations deepen the viewing experience through the quality and delicacy of the work, so that audiences can see something unique, something beautiful, something which inspires new understanding of the possibilities of the art form. She aims to immerse audiences into her artworks, creating an experiential exchange.

“The work explores real and imagined relationships between individuals and between species, at a time when devastating environmental and humanitarian emergencies are manipulated for political goals. It comes from the need to foster kinship, but this can be no fairy tale. Whether we think about grief, loss, personal or collective trauma, or the climate catastrophe, we can never just start from scratch. Glossing over problems doesn’t work, because the truth always bubbles to the surface. We must find ways to exist and find beauty despite our circumstances, not by denying their existence.” – Claire Morgan

About the Artist

Claire Morgan is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans sculpture, drawing, writing, printmaking and installation. She explores the complex, often dysfunctional relationships between humans and other species, addressing trauma, grief, memory, and the powerful transformative potential that exists in vulnerability.

Solo shows include I only dared to touch you once I knew that you were dead, Galerie Karsten Greve, (Cologne and Paris, 2023), Joy in the Pain, Saarlandmuseum Moderne Galerie (Saarbrücken, 2021), As I Live and Breathe, The Horniman Museum (London, 2019), Stop Me Feeling, Frist Art Museum (Nashville, 2017).

Morgan was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors in 2024. She was awarded a Virginia A. Groot Foundation Grant in 2022, and the 12th Fondation Guerlain Drawing Prize in 2019. Works are in collections worldwide including Centre Georges Pompidou, Fondation Guerlain, and MONA.

Accessibility 

The Lower Gallery is accessed via the ground floor, which is step-free. The Upper Gallery is accessed via lift from the ground floor or via the main staircase.

This exhibition includes taxidermy and representations of naked bodies.

Large print versions of exhibition texts are available.

Please let us know if you have any questions or additional requirements, we are working hard to make the gallery as accessible as possible for everyone.

Golden Thread Gallery is supported by: