Dominic McKeown: An Echo in the Walls   

Displacement, fragility and flux are recurring themes for Dominic McKeown, both literally and conceptually. Each creative space inhabited by the Belfast artist has been shadowed or impacted by the relocation of premises. From building relocations and pandemic restrictions during his time in formal education, to the shifting of available studio spaces as a practising artist, these enforced disruptions have highlighted the precarity and impermanence of creative spaces. For Dominic, these chaotic shifts have merely strengthened his adaptability and highlighted the importance of community and support.

As part of the Freelands Studio Fellowship, Dominic relocated to Bath. Arriving in a completely new environment created the ideal conditions for Dominic to further investigate spaces imbued with a sense of movement and transition. This relocation served as the impetus for deeper reflection on the idea of displacement; a rare time where Dominic himself was the entity in flux and not the space he inhabited.

Dominic notes how the infrastructure of the fellowship at Bath Spa University is finely tuned, offering an extra layer of support for his needs as a neurodiverse artist. Dominic’s lived experience of neurodiversity in an educational environment informs his approach to mentorship and teaching, and is something that attracted him to Bath Spa as an institution.

An open artist’s talk at the outset of the fellowship was an opportunity to introduce both himself and his work, andconsisted of an informal transition between Dominic and the university’s previous fellow Mikey Thomas. For the duration of the fellowship, Dominic operated from a dedicated studio space on campus. This facilitated a relaxed environment for students to approach him and engage in mentorship sessions and one-to-one tutorials, opening up discussions on how to resolve work or perhaps consider the practicalities of an installation.

Such practical considerations relate specifically to Dominic’s skills and experience in artist-led spaces, most notably Flax Art Studios and Catalyst Arts, where Dominic was Co-Director for two years. "We literally laid the floors there," notes Dominic, emphasising the permeation of DIY culture in most contemporary artist-led spaces and which is particularly evident in his hometown of Belfast, "It was all about problem solving and just getting things done."

The significance of artist-led spaces is something Dominic was eager to impart to final-year students, stressing their vitalrole in the years following formal education. Experiences of labour, DIY culture and the creation of space in facilitatingart operate on a practical note, allowing Dominic to offer seasoned advice on the off-site exhibitions and installations undertaken by the students he engaged.

There is a growing concern within Dominic’s practice towards physical and social support structures. He draws inspiration from artist Céline Condorelli’s 2009 publication, in which she declares:

"Support Structures is a manual for what bears, sustains, props, and holds up. It is a manual for those things that encourage, give comfort, approval, and solace … [the manual] is an attempt to restore attention to one of the neglected, yet crucial, modes through which we apprehend and shape the world." (1)

These concerns with support structures have led Dominic to position his practice within the physical materials of thecreative space and how its inhabitants – artists – breathe life into or out of these spaces, however permanent.

For example, the construction of false walls and partitions to create space and privacy is in direct tension with the violent actions of clearance or gutting that often precede or follow these temporary holding places of creativity.

Drawing on physical spaces and engaging with their photographic documentation has granted Dominic the altitude to interrogate and reflect upon the structural remnants of specific buildings. How these materials are dissected and examined are part of Dominic’s new body of work; objects that have been uncovered, excavated and birthed from the remnants of a deteriorating building. There is a theme of salvaging not only the raw materials but also recovery of the very care that was once imparted on these objects.

Dominic recalls the discovery of bricks specifically shaped to facilitate radiator pipes in one of his old studios. Something that once held and supported the very warmth of a space later discarded once the building has been stripped and the radiators torn out from the walls. 

The identification of intimacy within materials is evident in previous works by Dominic – his 2022 sculpture ‘Swaddle’, for example. The title alone is evocative of tender intimacy, reminiscent of infants, newborns and vulnerability.

In this work there is a juxtaposition of materials that creates a physical tension between pale yellow wool that appears hammock-like against the wall before being, ‘brought low by the weight’ of the puckered concrete suspended by the hammock structure. (2)

Brought low, weighted, yet not necessarily ‘burdened’. The concrete, that is supported below by the stretch of wool, is mostly exposed, leaning inwards towards the wall. The dichotomy of materials is neither uncanny nor absurdist, rather it is considered and quietly persuasive as a representation of care. The contortion of pinched and folded concrete, resembling the delicate folds of a newborn’s skin, is at odds with the weight and masculinity implied by such a material.

Typically related to construction, durability and strength, it is disarming to consider the very same material in repose; a gentle, sagging packet, vulnerable and helpless. To swaddle is to comfort, to surround something in a soft warmth, and through the shaping of these materials there is an implied nurturing of the vulnerable, of a thing that needs protecting.

Conceptually, Dominic’s work unearths the intimacy and knitted features of a loving and supportive community, something that became apparent to Dominic early in his career. The value of mentorship, guidance and an environment of safety has, in the past, facilitated both Dominic’s practice and his personal development; something that is integral to his pedagogical approach. Acts of kindness and generosity in a space where staff and technicians have fostered a neurodivergent-friendly space play a large role in bolstering Dominic’s understanding of community support.

Returning to Condorelli’s manual, she points out the inherently reciprocal nature of support, stating:

"Support is based on generosity... Support is a type of relationship between people, objects, social forms, and political structures, in the same way that participation, or conflict, are other forms of relations; each proposes a specific mode of operation, language and further relations." (3)

This relational exchange is also an integral function of the selected studio fellows throughout their respective tenures. The fellows worked in community – meeting online to discuss works and support one another. There was a familiarity with each other’s respective spaces that provided lived experience, guidance and insight regarding their alma mater and cities.

Dominic was keenly aware of the myriad resources available to him through the fellowship, from materials and facilities to the expertise of technicians and staff. Having access to these resources – and the time to engage with them fully – permitted Dominic to focus on the execution of his current body of work, pushing his practice to new standards.

He has engaged with a variety of media, re-contextualised quotidian objects, arrested their usefulness and repurposed them as venerated objects. There is a romanticisation of the materials of labour of generations past, of the love and care and possibly longevity that was placed in the very act of building these places.

Typically, Dominic works within a neutral palette, however there is an inescapable presence of the colour blue recurring in his most recent research. From floor tiles and curtain strips to industrial centre-feed roll, this palette surfaces across materials and disrupts Dominic’s usual muted tones.

His use of wood to create lightweight structures attests to the studio environment, reminiscent of temporary partition walls and exhibition hoarding. Dominic’s involvement in the physical construction of artist-led spaces and the labour it entails is echoed in the repetitive physical movements that comprise his latest works.

The reconsideration of raw material and the juxtaposition of objects – which feature throughout Dominic’s practice – are further emphasised through his experiments with the embodied experience and the navigation of space; the narrowing of space and the viewer’s response to it, referencing the physical negotiation of studio and gallery spaces. This is a return to the notion of flux: temporary structures, supporting and holding space – a liminal space between installation and exhibition – silently held and supported, and greater than the sum of its parts.

1.  Céline Condorelli, James Langdon & Gavin Wade, ‘Support Structures’, Sternberg Press, 2009, p.6. 

2.  Sara Muthi, 'through-praxis', commissioned essay in response to 'you breathe differently down here', Draíocht Arts Centre, 2022. 

3.  Céline Condorelli and Eyal Weizman, ‘Support, Participation and Relationships to Equity’, in (ed.) Markus Miessman, The Violence of Participation, Sternberg Press, 2007, p.B29.

Dominic McKeown’s work references the repurposed commercial and industrial spaces that he has encountered, documented and collected through his development as an artist. Concerned with material and social support structures, Dominic is interested in how these spaces are taken over by artists and reconstructed; in the rituals and rhythms of labour that are repeated in order for them to breathe.

Aoife Herrity is a writer and visual artist. 

Launched in 2021, the Freelands Studio Fellowship takes place annually to connect six artists with partnered UK host universities. The programme aims to foster a symbiotic relationship between teaching and artistic practice to enrich both artists’ and students’ work, facilitated by the environment of the artist studio and within the specific context of an art school. The 2024 Fellowship concluded with a group exhibition titled 'Enfold, Unfurl’, held in March 2025.