Institute of Art Design + Technology
Dún Laoghaire

Grace Hanley 

BA [Hons] Art

Grace Hanley is a multi-media visual artist based in Dublin, who uses photography, painting and drawing to explore patterns found in the natural world. Coming from a background in graphic design, her works tend to be quite linear and iconographic. She has an interest in science and scientific illustration. This informs her research, and her fascination with microscopic photography and organic, living material. She has exhibited in IADT group shows such as Perceived Dimensions (IMMA, 2018) and High Heart (Pallas Projects/Studios, 2021).

Project Description

Grace’s project involves documenting the captivating movement and flow found in nature, including microscopic lifeforms. She is fascinated by microscopic natural networks and is especially drawn to incredibly intricate patterns that only become visible through close-up and microscopic photography. Using projection, she increases the scale of these minute details, transforming the micro into macro. Many of her works involve meticulously tracing the lines and patterns that she observes in close-up photography of natural materials such as cotton and leaves. Each drawing takes considerable time to produce. Her process results in images of natural elements that are both bizarrely familiar and foreign, with some sources becoming unidentifiable. By keeping her work monochrome and draining nature of its colour she heightens this sense of ambiguity.