Nina McGowan
Nina is a Dublin born visual artist practicing over 20 years, solo (and in collaboration with the art activist group ‘Loitering Theatre’ 2011-2018)
Her work explores transcendence, and the primacy of the experiencing body. Earlier work investigated the 20th Centuries’ obsession with ‘faith in the future’ and led her to recontextualise landmark objects from science fiction films in architectural scale. The film-work ‘Loitering Theatre’ shot on drones in 2011 was shut down by the Gardai whilst simultaneously going viral and covered by Irish media, the New York Times and Wired magazine.
Upcoming work ‘House on a Beach’ with Trinity College, funded by the Creative Ireland Climate Action Fund, will see the charred remains of twin houses washed up concurrently on two shores, North and South of the border. This water-work follows from Nina’s recent involvement in the sport of Freediving. In 2021 she spent several months in the Egyptian desert exploring what it means to live a life ‘beyond breath, in a body, seemingly beyond species’…
In October 2022 she represented Ireland at the Freediving World Championships, setting a World Record in the masters ‘no fins’ category and became a World Champion with a gold medal in the ‘free immersion’ discipline. To date she has 9 National Records and is currently the deepest Irish woman with a NR at 58metres and a training depth of 63m.