Daphne Wright

Daphne Wright (born 1963) is an Irish visual artist, who was elected as member of Aosdána in 2011. As well as taking part in exhibitions nationally and internationally, she has also produced large scale commissions. She currently lives and works between Dublin and Bristol.

Daphne Wright was born in 1963, in Ireland. She studied at the Institute of Technology, Sligo between 1981–1985, National College of Art & Design, Dublin between 1985–87 and between 1989–1991 at Newcastle-upon -Tyne Polytechnic.

According to Daphne Wright's biographical statement her work "is the result of a relentless curiosity into the way in which a range of languages and materials can create an involvement with often unspoken human preoccupations." Her practice consists of casting, making, sound recording, filmmaking and drawing resulting in series of works that explore subjects such as prayer, literature, song, ageing and death. Wright's work includes a use of materials that range plaster, tinfoil, video, printmaking, found objects and performance.

Wright's on-going series of figurative sculpture works includes the piece's Child (2011), a Jesmonite cast of the artist's son's feet, painted with water colour, and Sons (2011), a pair of Jesmonite casts of Wright's sons from the chest up. Other sculpture works such as Lamb (2006), Swan (2007) and Stallion (2009) consist of casts of dead animals that have been positioned by the artist and rendered in marble dust and resin.

Daphne Wright currently lives and works between Dublin, Ireland and Bristol, England.

Wright has produced a series of large scale commissions; 'Still life' at Hanbury Hall, Worcester, 'Plura', South Tipperary County Council and IMMA Irish Museum of Modern Art, 'Stallion', Carlow County Council, Ireland, 'Home Ornaments', Gorbals, Glasgow, in association with CWZG Architects and The Artworks Programme, 'Theses Talking Walls ' New Art Centre, Salisbury, 'Prayer Project' Derby with Picture This Bristol, and most recently 'Garden of Reason', Ham House and Garden, Richmond.

Daphne Wright's work has been shown in group exhibitions in Britain and internationally in Luan Gallery, Athlone, Ireland, GoMA, Glasgow, The Holburne Museum, Bath, Enniskillen Castle, Ireland and Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg.

Wright has received the following awards and fellowships; Henry Moore Foundation Fellowship, Manchester Metropolitan University, Cheltenham Fellowship, British School at Rome Award in Sculpture and the 1996 Paul Hamlyn Award.