Island Talk 20
1st April 2026
Talk 1 -Niamh Swanton
Niamh Swanton will discuss her photographic series It’s All a Bit of Fun (Until Somebody Gets Hurt), a body of work that combines performance and self-portraiture to explore the complexities of human relationships. Through carefully staged scenes, the workuses colour, symbolism, humour, and familiar domestic settings to reflect on memory, vulnerability, and the ways early experiences shape how we navigate intimacy and connection. The talk will offer insight into the creative process behind the series and how these visual elements help untangle the messy, absurd, and deeply human emotions at the centre of the work.
Niamh Swanton is a performative photographer based in Dunmore East, Co. Waterford. Her practice explores themes of identity, emotion, and lived experience through a nuanced and intuitive approach. Swanton is interested in how personal narratives intersect with broader social and psychological landscapes, using photography as a space for reflection, questioning, and transformation.
Talk 2 - Agata Stoinska
Echoes of a Dream is a personal exploration of loss following the closure of D-Light Studios—once a vibrant, independent cultural hub in Dublin—after 15 years of community-driven activity, reflecting the wider disappearance of creative spaces in the city.
The project began during the studio’s final days with self-portraits and a durational performance, and evolved into documenting the site’s gradual decay—a quiet, ritualised process of mourning that captures grief, change, and transformation on both personal and collective levels.
Agata Stoinska is a Polish artist and creative producer based in Dublin since 2003, with a practice spanning photography and social design. She founded and ran D-Light Studios for 15 years and initiated projects including BLOW Photo and FUSE. Following the studio’s closure, she developed Echoes of a Dream, exploring grief, identity, and memory through photography, video, and installation, with exhibitions at the RHA (2025) and Momentum Gallery, Miami (2026).
