Susan MacWilliam

Susan MacWilliam

Born 1969 (Belfast)
Website susanmacwilliam.com

Susan MacWilliam represented Northern Ireland at the 2009 Venice Biennale. Susan is a lecturer in Fine Art at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. Her video works are held in the British Library Sound Archive.

Bio & Career

Working with video, photography and installation MacWilliam’s work explores obscure and overlooked histories and considers perceptual phenomena and the world of the paranormal and supersensory. Through anecdote, reconstruction and detailed editing MacWilliam’s works explore forms of portraiture and interpretation, and provide a historical visual record of cases within the history of parapsychology and psychical research. The works consider the world of the paranormal, the supersensory and the tradition of psychical research. With an interest in that which is on the periphery of the mainstream and which falls beyond conventional fields of science and psychology MacWilliam has developed an extensive body of work, exploring a range of phenomena including dermo optical perception, table tilting, psychic abilities and mediumship.

Working as both observer and participant MacWilliam has worked closely with prominent parapsychologists and psychical research institutions, including poltergeist investigator Dr William G. Roll and the Dermo Optical Perception Laboratory of Madame Yvonne Duplessis, Paris. Susan’s sustained engagement with the New York family of the Irish born medium Eileen Garrett has resulted in the production of five video works. MacWilliam has worked with historical archives internationally including those of the Parapsychology Foundation, New York; the T.G. Hamilton Spirit Photograph Archive, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg; Parapsychology Laboratory Records, Duke University, Durham, NC and Rhine Research Center, Durham, NC.; and the records of the Society for Psychical Research, University of Cambridge Library.²

Publications

Appears in

2017, A Séance of Objects & Images, Susan MacWilliam discusses Modern Experiments, Visual Artists Ireland, Read Online
2016, Through the Camera, Paranormal Review, Society for Psychical Research, Issue 77, Winter
2011, My Adventures in the Supernormal, Paranormal Review, Society for Psychical Research, July
2010, Double Take/Take Two, On Jordan Baseman’s Welcome Trust project Nature’s Great Experiment, Read Online
2009, Venice Biennale Q&A, Visual Artists Ireland News Sheet, Aug
2008, Review of Ben Craig, BA Degree Show, University of Ulster, CIRCA, Issue No. 125, Summer
2008, Review of Lorraine Burrell exhibition, Third Space Gallery’, CIRCA, Issue No. 123, Spring
2006, CIRCA magazine Issue No. 118, Front Cover
2006, Article, Arts Council of Northern Ireland Publication, Issue 6, Apr
2005, Catalogue essay, ‘Four Now’, exhibition catalogue of works from Arts Council Collections (North and South of Ireland) – co-selected by self, overall curation – Sarah Glennie
2005, Dialogues: Women Artists from Ireland’, (S.MacWilliam interview) ed. Katy Deepwell, I.B. Tauris
2004, Professional Development Article, SSI Newsletter
2003, Article, Arts Council of Northern Ireland Publication, Issue 1, Summer
2002, Caribbean Contemporary Arts Residency Review, Artists Newsletter, Jan
1999, Out of Belfast, published interviews, Denison University, Ohio (S.MacWilliam interview) ed. Joy Sperling
1996, Belfast Festival at Queens: Programme Cover
1994, CIRCA magazine Issue No 70, Front Cover

Awards and honours

2017, EIKON Award (45+), First Prize, EIKON International Magazine for Photography and Media Art Press Release
2017, Award for European female photographers and media artists aged 45 and over
2012, Individual Artist Award, Commission, Derry City of Culture, Derry
2010, Manitoba Day Award, Association for Manitoba Archives – For ‘F-L-A-M-M-A-R-I-O-N’, 2009 and
2010, Venice Biennale publication ‘Remote Viewing’
2007, Prize Winner, Claremorris Open Exhibition, Claremorris, Co.Mayo. Curated by Ingrid Swenson
2005, Award, EV+A 2005, Curator – Dan Cameron
2003, Perspective 03, Prize Winner, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast, Curator Enrique Juncosa
2001, Major Individual Award, Arts Council of Northern Ireland
2001, Award, EV+A 2001, Residency Award, CCA, Trinidad, (EV+A Curator – Salah Hassan)
2000, Nominated, Belfast Arts Awards
2000, illy Café Commission, Image Design for Espresso Cups – PS1/MOMA 2001 Collection
1999, PS1 International Studio Programme, New York, 1 Year Scholarship
1999, Award, EV+A ’99, Curator: Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn
1999, Short Listed, Glen Dimplex Artists Award, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
1997, Tyrone Guthrie Centre Residency, Annaghmakkerig – Belfast City Council Bursary
1996, Belfast Festival at Queens, Commission for Programme Cover Image
1995, Belfast 1991 Award, Arts Council of Northern Ireland

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

2019, The Telepaths, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
2018, Observations and Communications, Illuminations Gallery, National University of Ireland/NUI Maynooth
2017, Susan MacWilliam, Modern Experiments (Survey Exhibition), Butler Gallery, Kilkenny
2017, Susan MacWilliam, Modern Experiments (Survey Exhibition), West Cork Arts Centre, Skibbereen
2017, Susan MacWilliam, Modern Experiments (Survey Exhibition), Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda
2016, Susan MacWilliam, Modern Experiments (Survey Exhibition), F.E. McWilliam Gallery, Banbridge
2016, Medium Wavelength, Bleed gallery, NAS, Dublin
2014, AN ANSWER IS EXPECTED, QUAD, Derby
2014, KATHLEEN, Central Library, Derry
2013, AN ANSWER IS EXPECTED, NN Contemporary Art, Northampton
2013, Susan MacWilliam VIDEO WORKS, Northampton Museum & Art Gallery, Northampton
2012, Out of this World, Noxious Sector Projects, Seattle
2012, F-L-A-M-M-A-R-I-O-N, Open Space, Victoria, BC
2010, F-L-A-M-M-A-R-I-O-N, aceart inc, Winnipeg
2010, Supersense, Higher Bridges Gallery, Enniskillen
2010, Susan MacWilliam, Conner Contemporary, Washington DC
2010, F-L-A-M-M-A-R-I-O-N, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
2010, F-L-A-M-M-A-R-I-O-N, NCAD Gallery, Dublin
2009, Remote Viewing, 53rd Venice Biennale 2009, Solo exhibition representing Northern Ireland
2009, 13 Roland Gardens, Golden Thread Gallery Project Space, Belfast
2008, Eileen, Gimpel Fils, London
2008, Double Vision, Jack the Pelican Presents, New York
2006, Dermo Optics, Likovni Salon, Celje, Slovenia
2006, Susan MacWilliam, Ard Bia Café, Galway
2004, Headbox, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin
2003, On The Eye, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
2002, On The Eye, Butler Gallery, Kilkenny
2001, Susan MacWilliam, Gallery 1, Cornerhouse, Manchester
2000, The Persistence of Vision, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick
1999, Experiment M, Context Gallery, Derry
1999, Faint, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast
1997, Curtains, Project Arts Centre, Dublin
1995, Liptych II, Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast
1994, Liptych, Harmony Hill Arts Centre, Lisburn
1994, List, Street Level Gallery, Irish News Building, Belfast

Group exhibitions

2019, The Yalta Game: Myrid Carten, Susan MacWilliam, James Glass, Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny (Nov–Jan)
2019, Queer Paranormal, Usdan Gallery, Bennington College, Vermont (Oct–Dec)
2019, Arts Council NI Collection, Belfast Exposed, Belfast
2018, EIKON Award (45+): Katrín Elvarsdóttir, Susan MacWilliam, Gabriele Rothemann, Künstlerhaus 1050, Vienna
2018, Hummadruz, Newlyn Art Gallery, Penzance
2018, Traverse Vidéo, Toulouse
2018, CROSSROADS 2018, San Francisco Cinematheque, SF MOMA, San Francisco
2018, Hennessy Art Fund for IMMA Collection, Irish Museum of Modern Art / IMMA, Dublin
2018, BrickandMortar, CONNERSMITH, Washington, DC.
2018, The Dollhouse: Autumn Season, The Dollhouse, Heemstede, The Netherlands
2017, Soul Noir, No 13 North Great Georges Street, Dublin
2017 , The New Archive, NN Contemporary Art, Northampton
2017, Antimatter [Media Art] Film Festival, Victoria, BC.
2017, Simultan 2017 Pos:sible Futu:res, Timisoara, Romania
2017, Claremorris Open, Claremorris
2017, San Diego Underground Film Festival, Tenth Avenue Arts Centre, San Diego
2017, Medium, Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw State University, GA.
2017, Out of Body, Irish Film Institute, Dublin
2017, The Golden Record, Galway Arts Centre, Galway
2017, Eye Myth Film Festival, Double Double Land, Toronto
2017, ART WORKS, VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art, Carlow
2017, Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival, Hawick
2016, CYFEST, St.Petersburg | Bogota | NYC | Mexico | Curated by Leah Stuhlrager 2016/2017
2016, EXPO VIDEO | EXPO CHICAGO, Navy Pier, Chicago, Curator: Daria de Beauvais, Palais de Tokyo
2016, Out of Print, The Library Project, Dublin
2016, ART WORKS, VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art, Carlow
2016, Montreal Underground Film Festival, Montreal
2016, On Camera, Short Circuit, Presuming Ed, Brighton
2016, Stockholm Experimental And Animation Film Festival, Bio Rio Cinema, Stockholm
2016, Swedenborg Film Festival, Swedenborg Hall, London
2015, Vanishing Futures: Collective Histories of Northern Irish Art, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
2015, BlowUp Arthouse Film Festival (Official Selection), Chicago
2015, IndieCork Film Festival, Gate Cinema, Cork
2015, Psychic Lighthouse, The Model, Sligo
2015, The Girl With The Sun In Her Head, Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht
2015, Éigse Open, VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art, Carlow

2015, A Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth of The Beast, A Palazzo, Brescia
2015, Chimera, The Agency, London
2014, Juvenilia, The Naughton Gallery at Queen’s University, Belfast
2014, Foundation14, Tullamore, Offaly
2014, Welcome To The Neighbourhood, Askeaton, Limerick
2014, Voices Travel, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2013, The Air of Songs, Gallery of Contemporary Art, Celje, Slovenia
2013, It’s Only A State of Mind, Kunstverein Heidelberg
2013, Precious Cargo, London Street Gallery, Derry
2013, Royal Ulster Academy Annual (Invited Artist), Ulster Museum, Belfast
2013, Collective Histories of Northern Irish Art X – Catalyst Arts, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
2013, Art In The Eastside, Billboard Project, Belfast
2013, Things In Translation, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda
2013, It’s Only A State of Mind, NGBK, Berlin
2013, CINESONIKA 3 – International Film & Video Festival, Nerve Centre, Derry
2012, Portobello Film Festival, International Features, London
2012, WUNDER, Kunsthalle Krems, Austria
2012, O Diamond, Diamond, Five Lamps Arts Festival, Dublin
2012, Cutting A Door, Eastlink Gallery, Shanghai
2012, Interplanetary Revolution, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
2012, Afterlife, Tot Zover, Funeral Museum, Cemetery De Nieuwe Ooster, Amsterdam
2011, Afterlife, Tot Zover, Funeral Museum, Cemetery De Nieuwe Ooster, Amsterdam
2011, WUNDER, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg
2011, We Make Versions, Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster
2011, The Edge of Reason, Kino Kino, Sandnes, Norway
2010, Dig Down In Time, Man & Eve, London
2010, 8th International Photo-Triennial, Villa Merkel, Esslingen
2010, Sacred, Higher Bridges Gallery, Enniskillen
2010, To Believe, La MaMa La Galeria, New York. Curated by Jeffrey Walkowiak
2010, Not Necessarily In That Order, Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver
2010, Ireland Northern Ireland, Works from the Venice Biennale, Farmleigh Gallery, Dublin
2010, A View From Napoleon’s Nose, Kao Yuan Arts Centre, Taiwan
2010, Invisible, Various Venues, Dublin, Curated by Black Church Print Studios, Dublin
2010, Downstairs: Review Part I, Gimpel Fils, London
2009, The Object of Attack, David Roberts Foundation, London
2009, Time is a Sausage, Domobaal, London
2009, The 6th Burren Annual, Burren College of Art Gallery, Burren, Galway
2009, Feel The Force, Café Gallery Projects, London
2009, We Know More Than We Can Tell, Context Gallery, Derry
2008, RUA Invited Artists, Drawing Offices, Harland And Wolff, Belfast
2008, Based On Our Current Science… Video Screening, Meeting House Square, Temple Bar/The Gallery Of Photography, Dublin. Curated by Sally Timmons
2008, Salon, Studio 6, Temple Bar Galleries, Dublin. Curated by Jennie Guy
2008, Trickery and Illusion in Cinema – Video Screening, Tatton Park Biennial, Manchester
2008, Drawing a Line: A Contemporary Survey of Northern Irish Art, Art Museum of Heilongjiang Daily, China.
2007, Seeing is Believing, The Photographers’ Gallery, London
2007, The Fall Season, Jack The Pelican Presents, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York
2007, Rigor Mort, Basement Gallery, Dundalk and Castle Ellen House, Galway. Curator – Sally Timmons
2007, Terms and Conditions, Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray, Wicklow
2007, The Double Image, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast. Curator – Dougal McKenzie
2007, Claremorris Open Exhibition, Claremorris, Co.Mayo. (Award Winner) Curator – Ingrid Swenson
2007, Synesthesia Sat, Birr Vintage Week and Arts Festival, Birr, Co.Offally. Curator – Paul Murnaghan
2007, New Art from Northern Ireland, The Katzen Arts Centre at American University, Washington, DC, USA
2007, Things We May Have Missed, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
2007, London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, London. Golden Thread Gallery Project Space
2006, Flash on The Screen, Basekamp Gallery, Philadelphia, USA
2006, Revolving Ambiguity, The Grove Gallery, the St. Patrick’s Centre, Downpatrick
2006, A Dark Noise, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast. Curator – Peter Richards
2006, Vstop Prost, Likovni Salon, Celje, Slovenia
2006, EV+A 2006, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick. Curator – Katerina Gregos
2006, Smoke and Mirrors, Mac, Birmingham
2006, Platform 1, Knockbride House, Bailieborough, Co.Cavan
2005, To Be Continued…/Jatkuu…, Helsinki Photography Festival, Helsinki, Finland. Curator – Brett Rogers
2005, Offside II, Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin, Video Screening
2005, Red White Blue, Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York. Curators Erin Krause, Sadie Laska, Mark Orange
2005, From The Liberties to Parramatta, Female Orphanage School Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2005, ‘Feelers’, Artists Pages, Printed Project Issue 5, Sculptors Society of Ireland, Launched Venice Biennale
2005, Artistas Visuales de Belfast, La Sala Naranja, Valencia, Spain
2005, EV+A 2005, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick. (Award Winner) Curator – Dan Cameron (New Museum)
2005, The Belfast Way: Young Art from Northern Ireland, Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, Israel, Curator – Sergio Edelsztein
2004, Thinking of Ideas, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
2004, Inter, Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston
2004, Eye Test, Stephen Lawrence Gallery, Old Royal Naval College, Maritime Greenwich, London
2003, Think Over, Rialto Santambrogio, Rome
2003, Perspective 03, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast. (Award Winner) Curator Enrique Juncosa, Director IMMA, Dublin
2003, House of Science, Kino Central, Berlin
2003, Afterlife, Chapter Arts, Cardiff
2003, Afterlife, Guildhall, Newcastle Upon Tyne
2003, Exhumed, Video Screening, Museum of Garden History, London, Curator William Rallison
2003, Hindsight, Video Screening, Arnolfini, Bristol, Curated by Picture This Moving Image
2003, LUX Open 2003, Royal College of Art, London
2003, EV+A 2003, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick. Curator Virginia Perez-Ratton
2003, The National Gallery, The Return, The Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes Dublin
2002, Crawford Open 3, Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, Cork
2002, Home and Away: Contemporary Irish Art, Irish Arts Centre, New York
2002, Videoteque 2, Newlyn Gallery, Penzance
2002, From Dusk to Dawn, Stephen Lawrence Gallery, Old Royal Naval College, Maritime Greenwich, London
2002 Videoteque, Ten Gallery, St. Ives, Cornwall
2002, Cluster, Bowes Bar, Dublin, Curator Katie Holten
2002, Home and Away: Contemporary Irish Art, Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
2002, Appropriation, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast
2002, EV+A 2002, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick. Curator Dr. Apinan Poshyananda
2001, It’s All Over, Again, Proposition Gallery, Belfast
2001, Crawford Open 2, Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, Cork
2001, Laois Arts Festival, Laois
2001, Claremorris Open Exhibition, Claremorris, Co.Mayo. Curator – Lewis Biggs
2001, Install, Island Arts Centre, Lisburn
2001, EV+A 2001, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick (Award Winner). Curator – Salah Hassan
2001, Multiples, ICA Bookstore, London
2000, Multiples, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast
2000, The Notice Day in This Factory is Thursday, Consortium, Amsterdam
2000, D-Net Festival, LUX, London
2000, Portobello Film and Video Festival, London
2000, Clockwork 2000, (PS1 International and National Studio Program Show), Clocktower, Broadway, New York
2000, The Notice Day in This Factory is Thursday, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
2000, Fantasy and Identity, Star67, Brooklyn, New York
1999, Glen Dimplex Artists Award 1999, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
1999, EV+A ‘99, Limerick City Art Gallery, Limerick (Award Winner). Curator – Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn
1999, Multiples II, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin
1999, The Grotesqueness of Desire, insideART, Chicago, USA
1999, Daughters of the Middle Border, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA
1999, Haunted, S1 Artspace, Sheffield
1998, Zone Festival ‘98, Maidstone, Kent
1998, Victor Treacy Award Exhibition, Butler Gallery, Kilkenny
1998, First Cut, (Video Screening), Irish Film Centre, Dublin
1998, EV+A ‘98, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick. Curator – Paul O’Reilly
1998, Exhibition of Northern Irish Art, The Loft Gallery, Kingston, New York
1998, Video Soup, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh
1998, Fix ‘98, Time Based Arts Festival, Catalyst Arts, Belfast
1997, Intermedia ‘97, Triskel Arts Centre, Cork
1996, Splatter, Crawfordsburn House, Crawfordsburn, Co.Down
1996, House Style, The Bedroom, Greenore Street, Belfast
1995, Arcadia, North Street Arcade, Belfast
1995, Subterraneans, Catalyst Arts, Belfast. Curator – Dougal McKenzie
1994, BBC Show, BBC Ormeau Avenue, Belfast
1994, Iontas Small Works Exhibition, Sligo Art Gallery, Sligo
1994, Iontas Small Works Exhibition, RHA Gallagher Gallery, Dublin
1994, Hit and Run, Wilmont House, Belfast
1994, Belfast Young Contemporaries, One Oxford Street, Belfast
1993, EV+A ‘93, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick
1992, Claremorris Open Exhibition, Claremorris, Co.Mayo
1992, Royal Ulster Academy Exhibition, Belfast
1991, Fresh Art, The Business Design Centre, Islington, London
1990, Hanover Gallery, Liverpool
1990, Righton Gallery, Manchester