Part of Derby Print Open 2024

Carolyn Murphy will be part of Derby Print Open 2024, in June, along with over 70 other printmakers, selected for this year’s exhibition. Her works ‘Fracture’ and ‘Fracture 2’ will feature among over 250 prints for the show, which opens on Saturday 1 June.

‘Fracture’, a collagraph by Carolyn Murphy, will be available framed and unframed.
‘Fracture 2’ by Carolyn Murphy will be available unframed at the Derby Print Open 2024.

The Derby Print Open is an exhibition, organised by Green Door Printmaking Studio, which showcases contemporary printmaking from artists based in the United Kingdom.

Visitors will have the opportunity to peruse and purchase prints throughout the from 1 – 30 June 2024. There will be a wonderfully diverse selection of traditional and contemporary techniques, including screen printing, etching, linocut, monoprint, lithography and more. Works will be on show across four venues as part of a print trail; Banks Mill Studios, Dubrek Studios, Déda and The Smallprint Company.

Additionally, you can find details about the exhibition, including opening times, here. Since opening hours of different venues do vary, please do check carefully. The launch event is on Saturday 1 June, from 11am to 2pm. All venues are within 15 minutes walk from each other.

Inspired by Manchester

‘Inspired by Manchester’, a pop-up exhibition in Sale town centre, includes work by Carolyn Murphy. The exhibition, organised by Neighbourhood Gallery, features work by artists from across the North West of England in a range of media. It’s the first time that Carolyn has submitted work, so it was great to see ‘Bridgewater Canal’ on the wall, alongside some fabulous artists. Carolyn also had some of her linocuts in the window and all works were for sale.

Exhibition in Sale town centre

The exhibition runs from 9 February to 2 March with a private view on 8 February 2024. It’s an exhibition of works “inspired by Manchester’s iconic cityscapes, spirited people and vibrant culture”.

Carolyn at ‘Inspired by Manchester’ with her etching of Bridgewater Canal

‘Bridgewater Canal’ is an etching, which captures a hidden level of Manchester, where the canal runs right through the city centre. It’s an atmospheric image and it’s due to feature in a book about Manchester soon.

‘Sale Water Park’, a reduction linocut by Carolyn Murphy, has gone off to new home from the show.

Artist Carolyn Murphy with her work 'Falling Fragments' at the Barbican show

Printmaking ‘Surface Challenge’

Carolyn Murphy is part of the printmaking ‘Surface Challenge’ exhibition at Barbican Library, organised by the Printmakers Council. The exhibition displays a wide range of printmaking techniques and sets members a challenge, interpreting the theme however they wished for this selected show.

Details of the Show

Carolyn submitted an experimental piece, inspired by the complex surfaces and spaces of Eduardo Chillida’s ‘gravitaciones’ series of works on paper, that she has been studying as part of her MA programme. The surface of her work ‘Falling Fragments’ is divided over four pieces of paper, connected with thread. Incorporating collaged elements and embossing, the surface is hard to read and suggests an urban landscape and uncertain spaces.

Carolyn with her work ‘Falling Fragments’ at the private view

The exhibition runs from 2 February to 26 February 2024 in the Foyer of the Barbican Library, in the Barbican Centre, London. There’s a private view on 7 February 2024 and all are welcome.

To see more of Carolyn’s work, check out the Gallery section of this website and social media channels.

‘Reclaiming’ opens at Holborn Library

Carolyn Murphy’s exhibition ‘Reclaiming’ opens at Holborn Library on Saturday 14 October, as part of Bloomsbury Festival 2023. Carolyn has 3 installation works in the show, all pieces she has created during her MA in Fine Art Printmaking at Middlesex University.

  • Reclaiming – monotype, with collage, 4 panels, 2022
  • No stone unturned IV – hand-printed 3-D paper structures, 2023
  • A world we share? – repeat-pattern etching with emboss and hand embellishment, 2023

Her work is inspired by landscape, especially human interventions in the world around us. Themes include fragility, decay, loss and renewal. This exhibition reflects on nature’s power to reclaim.

Carolyn Murphy with ‘Reclaiming’

Talking about Reclaiming, Carolyn explains “The image is from a ruin I visited on walks in the Colne Valley (West Yorkshire), once considered to be a place where trees would not grow, in the damaged industrial landscape. Since the 1960s volunteers have planted over 300,000 trees.”

‘No stone unturned IV’ by Carolyn Murphy

No stone unturned IV suggests solidity but the ‘rocks’ are simply folded from hand-printed paper. Lichens are the perfect symbiosis of two species, able to grow in the most challenging of environments and a pioneer species for further new life.

‘A world we share?’ on the Library wall

A world we share? looks at dry stone walling. Walls can be seen as a symbol of building – and of boundaries. We humans destroy much in our path. Here new habitats are also created, first inhabited by lichens and mosses, then by plants, small mammals and even birds.

“My work balances decay and growth and my MA studies connect this with my own personal growth, following a period of health challenges,” Carolyn explains.

‘Reclaiming’ is open from Saturday 14 October until Saturday 21 October 2023 at Holborn Library, Mon – Fri 10am – 5pm; Saturday 11am – 4pm (closed Sun).

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‘Inspired by’ exhibition in Eastbourne

Carolyn Murphy has a print inspired by Julian Trevelyan in the ‘Inspired By’ exhibition at Emma Mason gallery in Eastbourne. To clarify, Julian Trevelyan was a founder member of the Printmakers Council, a Royal Academician and outstanding printmaker and educator. Carolyn’s work ‘Stone Circle’ is a respectful nod to Trevelyan’s etching ‘Stonehenge’, which she viewed earlier this year at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

‘Stone Circle’ by Carolyn Murphy

Carolyn submitted the piece in response to a call from the Printmakers Council for new work from current members. Importantly, works needed to be inspired by early members of the organisation, which was set up in 1965 to promote and support the work of printmakers. Carolyn chose Julian Trevelyan, a founder member, because she has been exploring his work during her MA studies.

All works were selected for the show in Eastbourne, and are currently for sale online on the Emma Mason website.

‘Stone Circle’ is a monotype collage with graphite and linocut, which is a new combination of techniques for Carolyn.

Talking about Julian Trevelyan’s work, Carolyn explains “I love his compositions, his colours, the stylisation in his landscapes, his joyful experimentation and confident use of collage.”

‘Stonehenge’ by Trevelyan, 1961

She added, “In preparing new work for the exhibition, I returned to some of the etchings, collages and linocuts by Trevelyan that I already knew and looked more closely at the elements I loved. I questioned what made them so interesting to me and so typical of Trevelyan – perhaps his use of space within compositions, those textures and his experimental approach to landscape.

Detail from a Trevelyan etching in the V & A
Detail from Trevelyan etching showing colour and textures

In my own practice, I have been creating ‘rock’ 3D structures hand-printed on paper. I decided to collage off-cuts from these monotypes and embrace the white space. I directly referenced Trevelyan’s etching and aquatint ‘Stonehenge’ (1961) in the composition and sun motif.”

Example of precarious monotype ‘rock’ tower – ‘No Stone Unturned III’ by Carolyn Murphy

Emma Mason gallery in Eastbourne is open Thursday to Saturday 10am to 4pm and at other times by appointment. The ‘Inspired By’ exhibition runs from 7 October until 4 November 2023.

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‘Present Continuous’ exhibition opens

Printmaker Carolyn Murphy will be part of Middlesex University MA exhibition ‘Present Continuous’ which opens at the Hendon campus on Thursday 7 September.

Artists in this show are:

  • Wallis Asher
  • Julien Ipanga
  • Bibi Masooma
  • Carolyn Murphy
  • Melisa Novotna
  • Iliana Ortega-Alcázar
  • Jostna Reddy
  • Abhishek Shakya

This exhibition allows artists to show their work in larger spaces and explore new opportunities for display, as part of their postgraduate studies in MA Fine Art / MA Fine Art Printmaking.

Carolyn Murphy showed 3 works:

‘A World We Share?’ is an etching with a repeat pattern. It is embossed to create texture and embellished by hand, with watercolour and Indian ink. Over 7 square metres in size, it floats across three walls.

‘A World We Share?’ by Carolyn Murphy

‘No Stone Unturned’ is an installation made of hand-printed, 3D folded structures suggesting stone and lichens. In six designs, this growing collection uses no glue and will morph and balance, presented in tall precarious towers in this exhibition.

Close-up view of ‘No Stone Unturned’

‘Winter Hill’ is a series of one-off prints, creating a disrupted panoramic landscape. It combines oil-based inks and watercolour monotype techniques with added collage, chine collée and burnt sections.

‘Winter Hill’ by Carolyn Murphy

The exhibition runs from 7 to 13 September 2023 in the Grove Building.

Following the show, a few images of the exhibition and opening are added below:

Opening night of Present Continuous
Copy of Copy of Didsbury Parsonage, Stenner lane, didsbury M20 2RQ - 1

Returning to the Didsbury Parsonage

In August, Carolyn Murphy will be returning to the Didsbury Parsonage for ‘Spectrum 3’, a group exhibition with Cate Gibson, Janet Higgins and Anne Mackinnon. “We have all exhibited together at the Parsonage before and Cate and I have run linocut workshops there too, so it’s fantastic to be returning after quite a gap,” explained Carolyn. The exhibition opens on Sunday 6 August 2023.

Poster for ‘Spectrum 3’ art exhibition

All the artists are based in Didsbury and the South Manchester area. They will be at the Didsbury Parsonage on Sundays from 2pm – 5pm throughout the exhibition to talk to visitors and discuss their work. At these times, they will also have unframed work and cards available for sale.

Work featured in ‘Spectrum 3’ includes painting and printmaking, including linocuts, collagraphs, abstract paintings and pastel and watercolour landscapes.

Work will be shown in Gallery 2, with its wonderful, restored sun dial stained glass window. Classes take place in the gallery spaces at various times (Monday to Saturday) so please call the Didsbury Parsonage ahead on 0161-445-7661 to check access to Gallery 2 at those times. Galleries are open on Sundays. It’s a great spot to enjoy the exhibitions and stroll around the gorgeous Parsonage Gardens. We hope you can join us in August. ‘Spectrum 3’ runs from Sunday 6 August until Monday 28 August 2023.

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Exhibiting as part of the Bloomsbury Festival

Artist and printmaker Carolyn Murphy will exhibit her work as part of the Bloomsbury Festival 2023. “I am delighted to have been offered the opportunity to exhibit at Holborn Library in October. It’s a wonderful Festival and a great chance to share my work with new audiences, ” she explained.

Carolyn Murphy at the Bloomsbury Festival Programme launch event

The Festival programme is out now and includes ‘Reclaiming’, an installation created by Carolyn using traditional printmaking techniques. It reflects on nature’s power to reclaim. She will show additional artworks that explore habitats and the fragility of the world we share.

Bloomsbury Festival 2023 Programme


Bloomsbury Festival celebrates contemporary Bloomsbury; a hotbed of creativity and
pioneering development which has one of the youngest and most diverse populations
in the country. For hundreds of years, Bloomsbury has been a catalyst for ideas that
have had impact across the world.

The Bloomsbury Festival 2023 theme GROW is inspired by a fantastic range of new
relationships and creativity, all of which celebrate growth and share the life, arts,
culture and learning to be found in Bloomsbury 2023.

‘Reclaiming’ by Carolyn Murphy will be at the Holborn Library from Saturday 14 to Saturday 21 October; open Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm and Saturday 11am to 4pm (closed Sundays). This is a free exhibition, so you can just turn up! For more information on the full festival programme, please check out the Bloomsbury Festival website.

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Fankle 01 exhibition at Coningsby Gallery

The ‘Fankle 01’ exhibition opens in July at Coningsby Gallery in London. Fankle is a new art collective, of emerging artists from across the UK, who work independently and come together to exhibit. A complex web of ideas and a shared love of creating unites their practices.

As they weave stories from memory, experience and mythology, tangling and untangling, we’re reminded of the idea that a world of life is woven from knots. The name ‘Fankle’ is Scottish in origin and means entanglement, like threads where the beginnings and ends are uncertain.

Fankle 01 is the first exhibition in Central London to bring together these artists as a group. Artists will show recently produced contemporary work, across painting, sculpture, printmaking, video and installation. Fankle 01 reflects the start of a new journey, with themes of identity, fragility and transition.

Carolyn Murphy will be exhibiting new monotypes from the series ‘Revisiting New Quay’ which relate to her memories of a visit to the Welsh fishing village. She created the prints for a recent video essay project.

‘Revisiting New Quay I’ by Carolyn Murphy

Members of the group are connected by their links to Middlesex University, as former or current students on the MA Fine Art and MA Printmaking programmes. Their threads stretch far beyond London – to Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Berlin, Munich, Baghdad, Tehran and Mexico City.

Their first exhibition provides an opportunity for reflection on community, hope and times of change. Fankle 01 opens on Monday 10 July and runs until Saturday 15 July, with the private view, on Monday 10 July at 6pm.  This show includes work by Fankle art collective members: 

  • Maryam Abdollahi 
  • Natalie Dee 
  • Phil Dunn 
  • Angela Forrester 
  • Freddy McBride 
  • Carolyn Murphy
  • Moritz Nicolai 
  • Iliana Ortega-Alcázar  
  • Jan Pimblett 
  • Hanan Tawfiq 
  • Kathy Rooney 
  • Luke Anthony Rooney (guest artist)

Katherine Jones RA commented “I’m delighted that this group of dedicated artists have decided to continue their association with one another beyond their studies by forming Fankle. I have been impressed by their respectful coordination of group exhibitions both onsite and independently while at Middlesex University. Their unique balance of disciplines, materials and outlooks will serve them well. I very much look forward to experiencing Fankle 01 at the Coningsby Gallery.” 

See website for opening times and further information.

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‘What If?’ exhibition opens

‘What If? exhibition opens at Filet gallery with work by Carolyn Murphy and fellow MA Fine Art and Fine Art Printmaking students from Middlesex University. They will exhibit new and experimental work at Filet gallery, Hoxton.  

Poster design by artist Melisa Novotna

The exhibition draws on themes of reinvention, exploration and contemplation. As the group’s first show of 2023, it provides a collective opportunity to share new work and test new ideas in a public exhibition project space, dedicated to contemporary art. ‘What If?’ reflects on the creative process and outcomes – with work that contemplates identity, fragility and memory. 

Artist and printmaker Carolyn Murphy presents a video piece for the first time, called ‘Revisiting New Quay’. Her monotypes and collagraphs feature in the video installation and alongside it – reflecting on loss and our connections to place.

‘What If?’ suggests future possibility, a welcomed change, an echo of personal or collective regret, perhaps a missed opportunity?  The show includes artworks in diverse media – including painting, sculpture, printmaking, video and installation.  The exhibition runs from Friday 24 March until Monday 27 March 2023.