Róise Mc Gagh
Through a series of sculptural works, **Prop, Hold, Bear** investigates the role of support as a condition. By incorporating elements of architecture, design and sculpture McGagh seeks to cultivate a wider reflection on support though formal, material and, by extension, civic contexts.
The exhibition space is separated by a set of walls resembling stage flats. Suspended from the buildings rafters, they articulate the continuously constructed relationships between inside and outside, public and private. These structures contain, frame and obscure the other elements in the installation. Inside this space, a screen-printed image of an architectural support structure floats on a sheet of glass which leans against the wall. Steel sculptures capture volumes of negative space which shift with the viewers movement. Cedarwood bows out from the wall, gesturing to touch and support. These reductive forms hint at functionality, yet remain ambiguous.
**Prop, Hold, Bear** examines how the way we think about space impacts our understanding of support. The installation makes use of construction and utility materials, subtly gesturing to the relationships and underlying ideologies in how space is made or represented.
Drawing upon the work of geographer Doreen Massey, this thesis explored space as more than surface, volume or distance, as an active and productive component. The research focused on how Irish artists engage with space, not only as a formal device but as a tool for engaging the audience, site and imagination.
Róise McGagh is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Dublin. Their practice centres on the relationship between the art object, the space it inhabits and the experiential concerns of the viewer. Using utility materials, McGagh creates visually sparse installations investigating support and the formal, spatial and affective contexts in which it occurs. McGagh’s work is influenced by concepts and philosophies of social space, but it is also rooted in the ongoing practical investigation of materiality and form. They are part of the Douglas Hyde Student Forum 2025 and have recently exhibited in **In the Making: Mud Between the Toes**, Pallas Projects/Studios (2025) and **Fractal**, Powerscourt Townhouse (2024).
