We’re delighted to announce that artist @kianbensonbailes will be joining Throwing Shapes this autumn for a Clay City Research Residency.

From the beginning of October to the end of December, Kian will use his time at the studio to research and develop a new body of work rooted in the cultural, historical and personal narratives of his native Sligo, alongside explorations of embodied sound and object-based sculpture.

Kian is an Irish artist from the northwest whose multidisciplinary practice spans sculpture, ceramics, textiles, collage, musical instruments and live sculptural sound. His work explores rural Ireland, visual language and embodied experience, often drawing on political and historical ideas of Irish identity and processes specific to rural life. Queer and figurative representations recur throughout his work, considering alternative narratives and political realities within a post-colonial Ireland.

Recent exhibitions include Culchie Boy, I Love You (21 Angels and Then Some...) at Mermaid Arts Centre and Staying with the Trouble at IMMA, both in 2025. He was the recipient of the Fire Station Artists’ Residency Award in 2024 and participated in Kīpuka Ireland as part of Hawai‘i Triennial 2025: ALOHA NŌ, in collaboration with IMMA.

Kian was selected through direct nominations from our panel of Clay City judges. We’re so excited to welcome Kian into the studio and to see where three months of research, experimentation and making takes him.