Poster for Festival of Print

Festival of Print in East London

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East London Printmaker’s Festival of Print is coming soon – and Carolyn Murphy will be showcasing new work from a series of monotypes called Fragile structures. This is Carolyn’s second time in the Festival, as an Associate Member, and FOP2025 will be at the Mile End Art Pavilion from 21 November to 30 November.

The Festival of Print is East London Printmakers’ annual exhibition – the highpoint of the creative year. FOP2025 celebrates the wide range of contemporary printmaking produced in the studio as well as the wealth of skill and talent at ELP, showcasing the work of established artists and emerging creatives. The Festival of Print offers visitors the rare opportunity to see and acquire original prints from around 100 participating artists. The Festival also highlights ELP’s values of community and cooperation, demonstrating the studio’s excellent facilities for printmaking using woodblock, screenprint, etching and lino. The Festival of Print will also launch this year’s limited-edition Box Set, a collection of 30x30cm prints for sale individually and as a set.

Venue: The Art Pavilion, Clinton Rd, London E3 4QY

Opening hours: 11-00am to 6-00pm (except Sunday 30th November at 4-00pm)

Late night evening with panel discussion: Friday 28th November at 6-00pm

Find out more: exhibition@eastlondonprintmakers.co.uk

http://www.eastlondonprintmakers.co.uk

Poster for Intersect exhibition

Intersect exhibition with Fankle Collective

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Carolyn Murphy will be part of the Intersect exhibition with Fankle Art Collective in Stratford, East London from 30 October to 21 November. Intersect brings together ten artists, who work across painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, textiles, ceramics, collage, photography, and film and video.  Carolyn will be presenting a large format print installation A Scream of Swifts as well as a new series of composite prints.

Poster design showing information on the Fankle Art Collective's Intersect exhibition

‘To meet and cross at a point’ is to intersect and this is Fankle’s fourth exhibition together, the fourth exploration of interconnecting ideas at a single point in place and time. Diverse ideas jostle within the space of the Stratford Unitarian Gallery, connecting and seeking out common ground.

As the Fankle Collective members make, remake, transform and deconstruct, for the brief period of the show, works overlap and interplay. Narratives that explore identity and relationships with nature or home, and notions of belonging and migration intersect with concepts of fragmentation and reconnection. We are reminded that a world of life is woven from strands, overlapping, contrasting, changing and fragile. Intersect celebrates those shared connections.

Image of blue linocut swifts hand printed on tissue paper, a detail from a work by Carolyn Murphy
‘A Scream of Swifts’ (detail), a linocut and laser cut print installation by artist Carolyn Murphy.

Fankle is a multidisciplinary art collective formed in 2023 by emerging artists from the Middlesex University MA Fine Art and MA Printmaking programmes. The name ‘Fankle’, a Scottish word for entanglement, reflects the complex web of ideas they draw together, as well as the varied generational and geographic origins of Fankle members, with threads extending from London to Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Berlin, Munich, Baghdad, Tehran and Mexico City.

Artists exhibiting in Intersect: Natalie Dee | Phil Dunn | Angela Forrester | Freddy McBride | Carolyn Murphy | Iliana Ortega-Alcázar | Jan Pimblett | Hanan Tawfiq | Kathy Rooney | Luke Anthony Rooney

For more information, check out www.fankle.art and @fankle.art on Instagram.

Open: Thursdays to Saturdays, 2pm – 6pm

Meet the Artists events: Saturday 8 November and Saturday 15 November, 2pm – 4pm

Stratford Unitarian Gallery, Stratford Unitarian, West Ham Lane, Stratford, London E15 4PH

www.stratfordunitariangallery.co.uk

The gallery is close to Stratford station (Central line, Jubilee line, DLR and Overground).

Image of Carolyn Murphy's collagraph, called Mixed Messages, on the wall at the Royal Academy

In the RA Summer Exhibition

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Carolyn Murphy will be in the RA Summer Exhibition 2025. Her artwork ‘Mixed Messages’ , a collagraph landscape, was selected from the 18,000 works submitted and will be on display at the Royal Academy in London, from 17 June until 17 August 2025.

Carolyn Murphy at the RA Summer Exhibition 2025 with her work

Held every year since 1769, the Summer Exhibition showcases work by Royal Academicians, experienced artists and emerging talent. Many works are available to buy and sales directly support exhibiting artists and the RA’s charitable work. The exhibition remains online until the end of November 2025 and work can be browsed and purchased on the RA website.

Carolyn last exhibited at the Summer Exhibition in 2023. “It’s a dream come true to be back so soon!”, she said and was able to visit the exhibition to see her work in Gallery VIII, curated by Sikelela Owen RA.

‘Mixed Messages’, a collagraph by Carolyn Murphy

Tickets on sale at www.royalacademy.org.uk and opening times are Tues – Sun: 10am – 6pm, Fri: 10am – 9pm.

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First solo exhibition

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Artist printmaker Carolyn Murphy’s first solo exhibition comes to The Stone Space gallery, in Leytonstone, East London. Layer over Layer features printmaking works on paper, including large-scale print installations and 3D sculptural floor pieces.

Inspired by the landscape and by a poem, ‘Tissue’ by Imtiaz Dharker, that links paper with skin, the exhibition title references layered print processes, layers of meaning, time and memory. Works in the show question appearances, illusions of stability and control, exploring ideas of damage and repair.

The exhibition runs from 13 February to 9 March 2025 and is open at weekends only: Saturdays 10am to 4pm and Sundays 12 to 4pm.

Works include ‘No Stone Unturned’, a collection of over 100 folded-hand-printed structures, suggesting the solidity of rock, precariously stacked. ‘A World We Share?’ takes over the gallery space, whilst ‘Lightly Tethered’, a kite installation, captures a sense of fragility.

The Stone Space is an independent not-for-profit gallery in Leytonstone, close to Leytonstone tube station on the Central Line. Opened in 2011, it occupies part of the ground floor of the Leytonstone Library Building. It is staffed by volunteers and led by a group of volunteer organisers who plan the exhibition programme.

Private view: Thursday 13 February 18.00 to 20.00

Artist’s Talk: Sunday 2 March 14.00 to 15.00

Gallery address: 6 Church Lane, Leytonstone E11 1HG

Photos by Ellie Laycock, supported by a bursary from a-n, The Artists Information Company.

Square-format RESPUN-2

Part of RESPUN exhibition

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Artist Carolyn Murphy will be part of the Fankle Art Collective’s RESPUN exhibition at the Durning Library in Kennington this December. It’s an adaptation of their successful UNSPUN show (Willesden Gallery, June 2024) to a new space with a revised line up of work. RESPUN opens with a private view on Wednesday 4 December, from 5.30pm – 7.30pm.

‘Lightly tethered’ by Carolyn Murphy

Nine artists from the Fankle Collective focus on making, remaking, spinning and transformation. RESPUN brings together ideas of deconstruction and rebuilding, disconnection and reconnection, fragmentation of language and communication. In the show, Fankle members unravel and re-spin stories over time, mythology and place, exploring migration, home and belonging, our relationship to nature and the non-human.

Poster for RESPUN exhibition

As narratives emerge, tangling and untangling, visitors are reminded of the idea that a world of life is woven from physical and emotional strands, overlapping, contrasting, constantly changing and fragile.

Fankle is a multidisciplinary art collective formed in 2023 by emerging artists from the Middlesex University MA Fine Art and MA Printmaking programmes. This show encompasses diverse media, including printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, collage and photography.

‘Transplant’ by Jan Pimblett

The group’s name ‘Fankle’, a Scottish word for entanglement, reflects the complex web of ideas that combine in their shows and the varied generational and geographic origins of their members, with threads extending to Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Berlin, Munich, Baghdad, Tehran and Mexico City.

Exhibiting artists in RESPUN: Maryam Abdollahi, Phil Dunn, Angela Forrester, Carolyn Murphy, Iliana Ortega-Alcázar, Jan Pimblett, Hanan Tawfiq, Kathy Rooney, Luke Anthony Rooney.

Further information: www.fankle.art  Instagram @fankle.art

RESPUN runs from 4 December 2024 to 2 January 2025. The gallery is on the ground floor of the Durning Library, a 10-minute walk from Kennington underground station (Northern line). Open Mondays 1 – 6pm, Tuesdays 10am – 6pm, Wednesdays 10am – 8pm, Thursdays closed, Fridays 10am – 6pm, Saturdays 9am – 5pm, Sundays closed. Please check the library website for Christmas opening hours.

‘Unfiltered’ by Phil Dunn

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Festival of Print

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Carolyn Murphy will be exhibiting at the Festival of Print, at Mile End Art Pavilion this year. The Festival is an annual celebration of printmaking, organised by East London Printmakers to showcase members’ work and share the joy of print.

Poster for Festival of Print 2024

The Festival of Print 2024 opens on Friday 25 October and runs until Sunday 3 November. At the Opening night printmaker Paul Catherall was the guest speaker and presented prizes on behalf of the sponsors.

Carolyn Murphy at the Opening with her monotypes

This was Carolyn’s first time exhibiting with East London Printmakers, since becoming an Associate Member in 2023. She also volunteered to support the hanging team of this huge exhibition, which included 99 printmakers. There is an array of excellent contemporary print, for sale, as well as a box set and plenty of cards.

Installation view of the Opening
Installation view
Opening night
Mile End Art Pavilion’s Festival of Print 2024

Entry is free to all. Opening times are 11am to 6pm Friday 25 October to Saturday 2 November and 11am to 4pm on Sunday 3 November at Mile End Art Pavilion, Mile End Park, Clinton Road, Mile End, London E3 4QY.

‘Unspun’ exhibition at Willesden Gallery

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Carolyn Murphy will show new work in the ‘Unspun’ exhibition at Willesden Gallery in June, with the Fankle Art Collective.

Exhibition poster

‘Unspun’ is an exploration of undoing, release and disintegration, and a loose and lively celebration of holding things together. See nine artists from the Fankle Collective focus on making, remaking, spinning and transformation. They bring together ideas of deconstruction and rebuilding, disconnection and reconnection, fragmentation of language and communication.

In the show, Fankle members unravel and spin stories over time, mythology and place, exploring migration, home and belonging, our relationship to nature and the non-human. The exhibition runs from Tuesday 25 June until Saturday 6 July 2024, with the private view on Thursday 27 June, from 6-8pm.

‘Lightly Tethered’, a new installation piece by Carolyn Murphy

As narratives emerge, tangling and untangling, visitors are reminded of the idea that a world of life is woven from physical and emotional strands, overlapping, contrasting, constantly changing and fragile. Fankle is a multidisciplinary art collective formed in 2023 by emerging artists from the Middlesex University MA Fine Art and MA Printmaking programmes. This show encompasses printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, painting, collage, photography and film and video.

The group’s name ‘Fankle’, a Scottish word for entanglement, reflects the complex web of ideas that combine in their shows and the varied generational and geographic origins of its members, with threads extending to Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Berlin, Munich, Baghdad, Tehran and Mexico City.

Exhibiting artists: Maryam Abdollahi | Phil Dunn |Angela Forrester | Carolyn Murphy | Moritz Nicolai | Iliana Ortega-Alcázar | Jan Pimblett |Hanan Tawfiq | Kathy Rooney

Getting There

For more information, please check out www.fankle.art and @fankle.art and @willesden_gallery on Instagram.

Willesden Gallery, 95 High Road, London NW10 2SF

www.brent.gov.uk/willesdengallery

The gallery is on the ground floor of The Library at Willesden Green, a 5 minute walk from Willesden Green underground station (Jubilee line). Open weekdays 10.30am to 8pm, Saturdays 10.30am to 5pm and Sundays 12pm to 5pm.

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

Printmaking ‘Surface Challenge’

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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.

Image of Carolyn Murphy with her etching 'A World We Share?' at the MA degree show

It’s the ‘Borderlines’ MA degree show

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‘Borderlines’ MA degree show includes work by artist printmaker Carolyn Murphy. This small group exhibition showcases two years of exploration and regular public exhibition. It provides a snapshot of three emerging artists from Middlesex University postgraduate programmes and their diverse creative practices.

The exhibition reflects on the creative process itself, with works addressing identity, fragility and ethics. The MA Fine Art Printmaking and MA Photography artists in ‘Borderlines’ draw on themes of protest, loss and reinvention through print, installation and photography.

Artists featured in the show:

  • Wallis Asher (MA Fine Art Printmaking)
  • Jennifer Forward-Hayter (MA Photography)
  • Carolyn Murphy (MA Fine Art Printmaking)

The exhibition private view was on Thursday 7 December – with the show itself running from 8 – 13 December at Middlesex University’s Hendon Campus, Grove Building mezzanine. Opening times 11am to 5pm.

‘No stone unturned V’ by Carolyn Murphy in foreground. Work by Wallis Asher behind.
Private view, with work by Carolyn Murphy and Jennifer Forward-Hayter (left)

Carolyn’s work in this exhibition is largely based on an area around ‘Winter Hill’, a Pennine moorland north of Manchester, which is still recovering from peatland fires that burned for weeks, above and below ground, in 2018.

Working in both 2D and 3D forms, Carolyn uses traditional printmaking techniques in this show to explore ideas of damage and repair, and illusions of stability and control.

Design work for the show was created for the group by Moritz Nicolai.

Carolyn with ‘A World We Share?’ at the private view.

‘Reclaiming’ opens at Holborn Library

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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).