I'm currently writing from my apartment in Dundrum, laptop on my knees. The laptop fan has been overheating for the past few weeks making this the cosiest spot in the house for my cat to want to sit. We are in a constant battle of wills.
I'm an art director, set designer, prop stylist, graphic designer (kinda), producer, and prop maker/sourcer. Currently, I'm collaborating with a designer to build a new website to showcase my Art Direction. Through this process, I've realised that I essentially run a mini-production company and take on (maybe too) many roles. I do pass on tasks to assistants when possible, but generally I handle a lot of it myself.
I graduated from Limerick School of Art & Design (LSAD) in 2011 with a fine art degree (in a recession — great times). From early on, I created fun, colourful installations with pop-culture themes. I worked on window displays for Brown Thomas Limerick and Urban Outfitters, then taught art abroad for two years. When I got back to Glasgow, I pursued a Master’s degree and started leaning in more to prop making and set design for photography. After designing phone cases and accessories for Skinny Dip London, I returned to Ireland to start my own business. Initially, I did all sorts: installations; events; prop-making, and photoshoots. But during COVID, I started specialising exclusively in photoshoots.
In my first year at LSAD, I had to choose between graphic design and printmaking. I chose the hands-on fine art course because it allowed my ideas to come to life. After graduating during a recession and flailing around (panicking) for a few years, I did wonder if I should have chosen graphics. Now, I occasionally do graphic design and use 3D programs to digitise my work, but I always end up creating physical models and testing colours in real life. Being able to physically touch and handle things is just something I always come back to, it grounds me, forces me to be present and physically play and mess around, whereas I find on a screen I tend towards perfectionism and pixel pushing.
My main goal is to create spaces that feel otherworldly and that take people into a different experience for a moment.
This is not always possible working commercially but it’s what has always driven me. I think that’s why I can sometimes be overly focused on small parts of a piece, like seams and finishes. These details bring us back to reality and break the illusion of the otherworld.
My work has always hinged on this line between art and design. I love to be functional and create imagery that works hard for clients but I also love injecting a sense of art and beauty into what I’m doing. Sometimes I think I’ve set the bar too high with what I want to achieve and that can put me under pressure to deliver within certain timelines or budgets but I’ll do what I can to try and honour the original idea. Long term, I'd love to focus more on installations and experiential projects, as these are where I truly come alive. I see set design and photography as miniature or digital versions of those experiences.
In 2020, I rebranded Play Nice to move away from being a generalist freelancer and specialise in a specific area. I also wanted to create some distance between my identity and the business. This worked well, but the flipside is that now the business is seen more as a service provider than myself as a creative at the helm.
One notable project in recent years was the Powers Rye shoot, launched in America in early 2023. The setup was rigorously planned over a few weeks, even though the set itself was quite simple. I didn't know that there would be huge billboards in Penn Station and over New York, so a few months after working on it pictures started popping up on my LinkedIn from a team in the US. Some of the billboards were hand painted in some locations. Total surprise.
Owning your own business is a challenge and being your own boss means you do have to confront your own thinking and possibly limiting beliefs around what you are capable of. I used to have a tendency toward treating every project like it’s a degree show, like this huge cumulative work that shows your progress, thinking, and future objectives. That kind of black-and-white thinking is not sustainable, so I’m glad I’ve learned to recognise it now.
Ideally, I’d like to run the business with someone else, a photographer would make the most sense. I read something the other day that said a business needs a “Minder, a Finder and a Grinder” and I’m definitely doing the grinding and the minding but maybe not so good at the finding and marketing side! So as I finish typing this (pissed off cat and overheated laptop on my knee) I’m manifesting a studio partner with top skills in photography, expert knowledge of lights, marketing know-how — and an unwaning desire to not get paid on time by clients.