Statement

Asha’s work examines narratives of contemporary life through a feminist perspective. I’m inspired by the societal constructs interwoven within mundane everyday lives & domestic spaces. I explore object ontology, objects influence on us, leading to object consumerism & impacts on identity.

I draw attention to unnoticed moments & mundane paraphernalia, examining their leak into our subconscious, informing ways of being & Rituals.

My main medium of working in is Experimental Film, Sculpture and Wool Tufting, a punch needle wool technique.

I create nonlinear experimental films, consisting of clips I continuously record of everyday moments. In the films I perform surreal, dreamlike personas playing out hyper exaggerated aspects of social constructs. I house these films within wool tufted Sculptures. Tufted objects & paraphernalia create dreamlike dystopian engagements for audiences. I intentionally work with tufting, traditionally undervalued as "craftwork" made by women. The mixture of film and textiles in my work creates for spaces of rhythmic visual collage of sound and moving image.

What is Tufting?

Wool tufting is made by tufting wool through canvas either with a needle or tufting gun, resulting in a carpeting textile medium. This medium is a slow process and allows time for a lot of thought and emotion to go into the work. This slow pace then allows for the work to naturally reveal what it will be throughout the process. I look at rug tufting as a way to collage images, memories and emotions in a non conventional, non linear storytelling way. I use vibrant colour leaving me with beautiful surreal tufted wall art.

Biography

Asha Murray graduated in 2023 from The Limerick School of Art & Design, TUS with a First Class B.A. Degree in Sculpture and Combined Media. There she was honoured as TUS student of the year, was the first recipient of the TUS Travel Bursary Award, and was awarded a residency with the National Sculpture Factory.

Selected as a finalist for the RDS Visual Artist Award, Asha’s work was exhibited in IMMA, Irish Museum of Modern Art where she was subsequently awarded the one year RHA, Royal Hibernian Academy Graduate Residency prize.

Since beginning the RHA residency, Asha has exhibited internationally with the Irish Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia with the Ireland’s Eye exhibition and was an invited artist at the RHA Annual Exhibition 2024.

Asha held her first Solo Exhibition ‘Dropped Frames’ awarded to her by The Parallax Emerging Film Artist Award, presented by Cork International Film Festival, the National Sculpture Factory, Sample- Studios to one promising graduate film artist nationally annually.

Asha is now working towards two more Solo Show scheduled for September 2025 in the RHA Gallery and 126 Gallery for 2026.

Her work is held in private collections in Ireland and throughout Europe, and has been purchased by Highlanes Gallery, TUS, Technical University of the Shannon as well the OPW, Office for Public Works.

Solo Exhibitions

2028: Súil Gallery Clare

2026: 126 Gallery Galway

2024: Dropped Frames Solo Exhibition. The lord Mayor’s Pavilion, Cork.Parallax Emerging Film Artist Award. In association with The National Sculpture Factory, Cork International Film Festival, Sample Studios.

Group shows

2025: Royal Hibernian Academy Gallery

2025: Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, March 2025

2025: Ormston House Gallery, The Limerick Show, January 2025

2024: Invited Artist, RHA, Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, 194th RHA Annual Exhibition. May-August 2024

2024: International Ireland’s Eye Exhibition, World Trade Center Jakarta,Indonesia. Part of Irish Embassy. March 2024

2024: Visma Gallery, Indonesia. Curated by Mark Joyce. May 2024

2023/2024: IMMA, Irish Museum of Modern Art. RDS Visual Art Award exhibition

2023: Cine Salon, Film Screening Curated by Max Le Cain and Benjamin Burns

2023: Berlin Art Institute Film Screening Curated by Rouzbeh Rashidi

2023: Limerick School of Art and Design, LSAD Degree Show June 2023 2023: KFEST, KERRY

2022: KFEST, KERRY JUNE 2022

2022: OTHERWORLD April May 2022

2022: Hallow House, Hunt Museum, February 2022

2022: LSAD Sculpture and combined Media Show 2022

2022: Amanda Coogan, Performance Art Show, Via Zoom 2022

2021: LSAD The Solitary Covid Experiment 2021

Awards

2025 Súil Gallery Clare, Solo Exhibition

2023 RHA Graduate Studio Award Winner 2023-2025

2023 Selected for RDS Visual Art Awards 2023, IMMA, Irish museum of Modern Art

2023 Parallax Emerging Film Artist Bursary Award 2023. Awarded by Cork International Film Festival, National Sculpture Factory, Sample-Studios and The Arts Council to promising graduate film artist

2023 Graduate of The Year Award, School of Art and Design, TUS

2023 First Recipient for Global Travel Award, Tus 2023

2023 Recipient: Graduate Residency Award, National Sculpture Factory 2023

2023 Artwork purchased for The TUS, LSAD Permanent Collection

2023 K-Fest Arts Festival 2023, Oaicial Commission

Awarded Residencies

2024/26: RHA Graduate Studio Award Winner, Dublin. One Year & extension,

2023: National Sculpture Factory Cork Graduate Award. Three Months

2023: Sample-Studios, 12 month Associate Membership residency as part of Parallax Award in National Sculpture Factory Cork. Three Months

Artist Talks

2025 Limerick School of Art and Design, Sculpture Combined Media & Experimental Film Seminar

2025 Royal Hibernian Academy of Art, Artist Talk and Tufting/Film Work Shop 2025 Highlanes Gallery, Curators Program

2025 Ormston House Gallery, Limerick Show

2024 Dropped frames, Solo Exhibition Talk

2024 MTU Crawford Artist Talk for Solo Show and Professional Practice.

2024 First Cut! Youth Film Festival Youghal. Cork 2024 Discussion Of Experimental Film making as a Visual Artist

Articles

2024: Irish Arts Review, Coders of the Zeitgeist

2023: First Recipient of Tus Limerick School of Art and Design Travel Bursary Award 2024