about the artist:

Charys is an Irish visual artist working primarily in installation. She holds a BA in Fine Art from Aberystwyth University, and an MFA from Ulster University. Her immersive, contemplative works explore light, space, and time and often draws on natural elements. She has exhibited widely across Ireland, the UK, Germany, and Japan, with solo exhibitions in Berlin, Belfast, and Derry-Londonderry.
Charys often creates installations using light as a medium. She is deeply passionate about the climate crisis, our connection to the natural world, and the impact of this connection/disconnection on our mental health. She focuses on creating immersive works that minimise impact and that are created using recycled or biodegradable materials with the climate crisis in mind. Every installation is dismantled or recycled, reflecting her commitment to sustainability and addressing the growing disconnect between humanity and nature.

About the exhibition:

The work is inspired in part by the practice of forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku: a Japanese tradition of spending quiet, mindful time among trees. Research shows that this kind of intentional time in nature can reduce stress, improve mood, and even boost the immune system.
For many of us this kind of immersive experience can feel out of reach, especially during the colder months or in urban environments. This installation is a way to bring some of those benefits indoors: a moment of calm, light, and quiet connection.
At a time when the climate crisis is making rhythms of nature more fragile and unpredictable, this piece also serves as a gentle reminder of what we might be losing, and what we still have time to protect.
This installation is about reconnection with nature, the passing of time, and our role in sustaining the environments we depend on. It doesn’t aim to shock or overwhelm, but instead to gently remind, and soothe the viewer, offering a visual respite in a busy overstimulating world.

The boats’ delicate frameworks echo the human skeleton—structures that support yet fracture, heal, and hold history. This duality invites viewers to contemplate how displacement shapes the body and psyche alike.

Passages reflects the fluid, often fragmented nature of migration—marked by disorientation, resilience, loss, and transformation. It is a layered, evolving dialogue about crossing boundaries, carrying histories, and the ongoing work of remembering and rebuilding. The exhibition is a meditation on movement as both physical passage and emotional journey—a shared, universal story.

About the artist: Anushiya is a multidisciplinary artist from Sri Lanka, now based in Belfast, working across printmaking, painting, sculpture, textiles, installation, mixed media, and performance. Her practice explores migration, cultural memory, identity, and belonging, shaped by my move from Sri Lanka to Northern Ireland in 1989. A graduate of the University of Ulster (1998), she exhibits locally and internationally, with work in public and private collections. Based at Queen Street Studios and Belfast Print Workshop, she also works as an arts facilitator. Her work seeks to build cultural understanding and create spaces for shared stories and meaningful connections through art.
A pivotal moment in her personal and artistic journey was returning to Sri Lanka from the UK in 1995, during the height of the civil war. That journey—marked by travel across land and sea, including small boats—left a deep emotional imprint. It underscored the complex

interplay between danger and safety, loss and reconnection, which continues to inform the emotional terrain of her work.

Exhibition times:

Late Night Art opening event: 6:00 – 9:00 pm on Thursday 2 October
Exhibition: Thursday 2 until Friday 24 October by normal opening hours (Tuesday to Friday 10:00 am – 5:30 pm)
Bounce weekend opening: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm on Saturday 4 October, and 12:00 pm – 4:30 pm on Sunday 5 October
Artist Talk: Friday 3 October from 2:00 – 3:00 pm in the Atypical Gallery (free, no booking required)

Connecting Artists Programme & Collective: This national annual initiative pairs artists who are neurodivergent or have an intellectual disability with mentors and nurtures their creative development and visibility. The programme leads to an exhibition at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Once participants completethe programme they can join the

Connecting Artists Collective, a platform for continued support and artistic growth.
The collective facilitates artistic expression, skill-sharing, and collaboration. It has held notable exhibitions including at the prestigious Royal Hibernian Academy.
Exhibiting artists: Evan McLoughlin, Rachel Connell, Pamela Kavanagh, Martin Carolan, Marta Soltysek, John Heavey, Claudia Williams, Bearnard Durnin, Ava Lawlor, Amy Begley, Alan Tarpey, Thomas Higgins, Brian Kennedy, David Singleton, Michael Hade, Matthew Sexton, Jennifer Humphreys, Peter Kehoe, Sarah McNulty, Rachel Coen, Jenny Stafford, Kristin Reynado Suniega and Tomás Malone.

Cover image: Bouquet from Beyond, Claudia Williams


For more information visit: www.connectionsartscentre.ie

Exhibition dates: 3 July – 30 July 2025


Late Night Art Belfast 
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm, Thursday 3 July 2025

Artist Talk
11:00 am – 12:30 pm, Thursday 10 July 2025

Exhibition Title: Inner Space, Outer Place

About Us:-

University of Atypical for Arts and Disability is the lead sectoral organisation in arts and disability in Northern Ireland. We are disabled-led, and take an empowerment-based approach towards d/Deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent people’s involvement in the arts, as audience members and creative practitioners. The Atypical Gallery is the only gallery space on this island dedicated to promoting professional artists who identify as d/Deaf, disabled, or neurodivergent. Our Artistic Director, Edel Murphy, is pleased to welcome you to our Art is Collective pop-up exhibition.
About Art is Collective

Art Is Collective is a multi-ability, multi-disciplinary group of artists. They meet every Thursday from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm in 2 Royal Avenue to support each other on their artistic journeys. The Collective emerged when artists Ngaire Jackson and Bronagh Lawson observed that some artists with disabilities or mental health issues needed more of a studio environment to develop their work. 
Art Is Collective provides a supported studio environment dedicated to fostering and nurturing the creative ambition and professional development of their artists. With the support of experienced and established artists including Alastair Mac Lennan and Cobie Moore, those who take part in Art Is Collective can realistically aspire to develop their professional arts practice in a nurturing and creative environment. Art Is Collective continues to develop, evolve and challenge misconceptions around arts, disability, mental health and participation.

About the Artist: Sarah McConnell

Sarah McConnell has been working with Bronagh and Ngaire for six years. She has shown work in several exhibitions across Belfast and held studio space in Belfast School of Art. Apart from the assisted studio time, Sarah says she keeps coming back to the group because of the social aspect to the meetings.
Sarah says her artwork has changed over the years as she has developed and settled on a specific palette. She mainly works in acrylic and watercolours, and occasionally in pastels. Her work is linked to place and nature. She documents the places she has been to through photography that she then works into her paintings.
Art Is Collective is very important to her. As well as the social side to the gatherings, Sarah’s confidence in herself and her work has grown significantly.

About the artist: Jeffrey Roberts

When Jeffrey is asked how long he has been with the group,  he jokes ‘too long’.He agrees with Sarah that being a part of the collective is a great way to meet nice people. 
Jeffrey has been drawing for years. He joined the Art Is Collective group when they were meeting in Castlecourt in 2023, and brought work from home to develop. He also had a studio space with the group when they were based in the Belfast School of Art. Jeffrey had also been drawing in 2 Royal Avenue on a regular basis. They had set up a table to facilitate this. When Art Is Collective needed to find a new space to continue working as a group, they followed Jeffrey to 2 Royal Avenue. Jeffery has been doing colouring in sheets for years but we encouraged him to follow his own idea of what art is and not colour in other peoples lines. Jeffrey sees his designs in his mind and then transfers the outlines onto a surface. He prefers specific types of felt fibre pens of varying thicknesses. He started working on cards and has expanded his range to work on wood and fabric.

Simulacrums, representations and abstractions of the artist’s body exist in a state of contradiction. As a prayer for wellness in spite of the inescapable nature of death, as a record of the artist’s existence and lived experience despite the rise of groups which would seek to erase it, as artefacts viewed in reverence bound to be forgotten. As reliquary, as oubliette.

This body of work also reflects on the ephemeral, but enduring, nature of pain. As the body keeps the score, the artist keeps the score through material depictions.

About the Artist:
Eibh Gordon is a queer visual artist practicing in Bangor. In 2024 she graduated from Ulster University with a Masters Degree in Fine Art, prior to which she graduated with a Bachelors in Textile Art, Design and Fashion.

Fundamentally her work translates the intangible terror of her lived experience into physical objects, often through the lens of the body. Through visceral forms the artist materialises their experience with sexual assault, death and pain. The artist uses her spiritual and philosophical references as a framework for experimenting, to give structure to the practice.

Shades of red and burgundy are a signature of the artist’s visual language, acting as a thread, connecting across her use of textiles, glass, and ceramic.

This visual language is further informed by sympathetic magicks and how this practice manifested historically through artefacts.

Exhibition dates: 1 May – 25 June 2025

Late Night Art Belfast 
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm, Thursday 1 May 2025
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm, Thursday 5 June 2025
Artist Talk
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm, Friday 9 May 2025