Niamh Swanton

God, I Hope it All Goes Away, 2025

Photograph on archival photographic paper | Unframed: 50 x 76 cm

‘God, I Hope it All Goes Away captures the quiet tension of an Irish childhood shaped by the Catholic Church’s omnipresence. In the mirror, a child sits beneath the watchful gaze of Christ, while an unseen guardian’s hand clasps a rosary, symbol of faith and control. Domestic clutter, soft toys, schoolbooks, citrus peel, anchors the scene in everyday life, while religious iconography and muted walls hint at spiritual weight. The image balances tenderness and unease, reflecting faith’s deep roots and the longing for release.’ - Niamh Swanton.

Niamh Swanton’s work explores the human condition and her obsession with questioning what it means to be human. ‘I create tangible forms of emotions’, she says, ‘tied to key life events: impending doom, forgotten promises, longing, heartbreak’. She casts herself as the main subject, but obscures her face to create ambiguity, removing identity in order to allow the audience to connect with the work more readily. Dream symbolism shapes her idiosyncratic view, while colour, humour, and everyday objects bring familiarity and levity. Influenced by Absurdism, she embraces life’s futility without foreboding, ‘celebrating its good, saluting its bad’. My work, at once personal and universal, invites reflection on what it means to exist.

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