This sculptural work was created during the early 2000s in a time of post-conflict in Northern Ireland. It reflects a sense of new hope, both aesthetically through the vibrancy of its sunshine yellow and the levity of the wool material it has been crafted from. A key element of the artist’s practice is his play with objects and materials, which historically carry notions of gender. The helicopter, an object traditionally associated with the masculine through its military associations, draws on the artist’s memories of growing up throughout the Troubles. The resulting sculpture is one that encourages disassociation from the object as we traditionally know it, instead opening up possibilities of reinterpretation through its materiality.

This photographic series straddles installation, photography and sculpture through its use of stereoscopes in the presentation of the work as 3 stereoscope sculptures. The stereoscope, a device which creates an illusion of 3D depth, is appropriate to the artist’s interest in extrasensory perception. Via the intimacy of the stereoscope as a viewing device, the audience is invited to peep into the binoculars to spectate a view that initially is unseen. Developed from an earlier series Faint, we witness a girl dressed in period costume before and after the state of collapse. The female figure, performed by the artist herself, draws on ideas of spiritualism and materialisation mediums through the performance elements of the work.

This sculptural work is part of the series Insurgence which came out of the artist’s 2012 MFA show at Royal College of Art, and comprised of a series of mutated bust-type sculptures, sculpted using Parian porcelain with the striking futuristic aesthetics achieved through 3D printing technology. This meeting of traditional craft and new technology has informed the artist’s practice in the 10 years following. The work is a hybrid of both the classical form and the possibilities of new technologies. The fragmented forms speak to the artist’s interest in the different versions we create of ourselves, and mark the changes in our cultural, personal, and social ways of living and communicating in the online world we now find ourselves in.

This photographic work is part of an extensive and ongoing documentary photography project Air of the Anthropocene first created in 2018 by an artist whose practice centres on interactive new technologies. Within this series, he uses a custom-built LED light painter to create a visual image of particulate pollution levels, which translate into light dots through long exposure photography. This has the effect of shedding light on different levels of pollution, invisible to the naked eye. The resulting images are both mesmerising and shocking, highlighting important environmental concerns. This series has significance making a new wave of documentary photography, using the arts and science to create a shift in thinking around global problems.

Paul Seawright is renowned for his extensive photographic practice which has investigated the Northern Ireland conflict and other politicised landscapes worldwide. This series presents both survivors and perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide of 1994 alongside portraits of animals, giving the viewer insight into a unique reconciliation project. The project pairs together a survivor and perpetrator of the genocide, engaging them in a series of workshops focused on reconciliation, truth telling and acceptance. As part of this process, they are given shared ownership of a donated cow, to develop a sustainable future for their community based on trust and forgiveness. The cows are presented in this series as instruments of peace.