We’re thrilled to announce the selected artists and producers for the 2024 Cybernate Digital Arts Residency. Joining us this year are some fantastic Galway-based artists and talented producers from France.
Cybernate is a research residency and is a collaboration between Ireland and France, supporting Irish and French artists by providing artists working in digital arts with the time and space to interrogate access to public space through artistic/digital means and seeks to explore what it means to create digital artworks in the public space in the current climate of societal change.
Cybernate is funded by Galway Culture Company, which is supported by the Government of Ireland under the National Development Plan through the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Cybernate is produced by Culture Works, supported by Galway County Council, The French Embassy in Ireland and the Hacnum Network, and in partnership with Pôle Pixel, CREW, ATU and the Centre for Creative Technologies at the University of Galway.
Leon Butler
Leon Butler is an artist and designer working at the intersection of art and technology. He has been recognised by The Type Directors Club, 100 Archive, Future Makers awards, Digital Media awards, Young Directors Awards and Irish Design Awards. Recent shows include Emperor 101 (SxSW, Dublin Theatre Festival, Boca Del Lopo), Shelter and Place (Cork Midsummer), and Desired (Los Angeles). Leon has received a number of commissions from the Arts Council, the European Media Arts platform, the National Sculpture Factory, the Digital Hub and the Science Gallery. Leon was a Selected Artist of the European Media Arts Platform with his work, Performance Surveillance, showing at the WRO Biennale, Wrocławin, NEME, Cyprus, RIXC, Latvia. Leon’s latest work is Dwelling, an XR Dance performance that premiered as part of the Beta Festival Dublin.
Jane Cassidy
Jane Cassidy is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator living in Galway City. Cassidy’s work spans installation, video, music composition and electronics to create immersive audio-visual environments. Her main interest lies in multi-sensory work, creating a sense of synesthesia for the viewer, most often in response to the mysticism of nature. Cassidy has had solo shows at the Knoxville Museum of Art, Tennessee; Pallas Projects Dublin; the Mobile Museum of Art, Alabama; the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Alabama; the University of New Orleans, Louisiana; and the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Michigan.
Jennifer Cunningham
Jennifer Cunningham is a visual artist who works in a wide range of media including paint, printmaking, drawing, model making, film and digital media.
She has won many awards for her work including the Agility Award, the Visual Arts Bursary Award, the Thomas Damann Travel Award and Taylor Art Award. She has undertaken residencies in the Fire Station Artists’ Studios, the RHA, the Tyrone Guthrie Centre and SIM Iceland. Solo shows include “All that Surrounds Us” in the Ashford Gallery, R.H. A. and “After the Future” in the Galway International Arts Festival (2018) which received a five-star review in the Irish Times.
Ryan McKenna
Galway-Based Filmmaker and Virtual Production Specialist, Award-winning filmmaker, musician, and marine biologist, Ryan McKenna, founded www.boredApe.productions, producing Ireland’s inaugural virtual production short film, “THIRST,” acclaimed at five national film festivals. His adeptness in game engines and 3D geometry enables the integration of virtual environments with live action. Ryan has also contributed to the post-production of Netflix’s “Dance Monsters” – the world’s first mixed reality dance talent TV show. His international network and scientific background in marine research enriches his innovative approach. Ryan embodies diverse roles, from producer to Unreal Operator. Renowned for immersive storytelling, Ryan McKenna is constantly pushing creative boundaries.
Cyrielle Tissandier, AADN
Trained in artist career management, Cyrielle joined the AADN in 2017 as a diffusion officer, to deploy the national and international diffusion of the whole catalogue: shows, sound installations, installations for public space, immersive live AV. She is also involved in the coordination of events for the general public initiated by the AADN. Since 2023, she’s been production manager for AADN. AADN develops planetarium networks in France – also with international partners. Cyrielle is working on the coordination of partnerships, international development, and events organisation. Overall in the company, she accompanies artistic teams in the setting up of their project, advises them and ensures the interface between the organisers, and the artistic, technical and administrative teams.
William Board, Dark Euphoria
After a degree in English Arts, History and Literatures in Bordeaux Montaigne and Warwick Université which have reinforced William’s appeal in the cultural sector, he worked as an intern and volunteer at several festivals in France (VidéoFORMES festival, International Short Film Festival of Clermont Ferrand, Classical Music Festival etc). Alongside his master’s degree in cultural mediation and artistic direction of European projects in Montpellier, William volunteered in an artistic and cultural association aiming at setting up a festival at the end of the master’s. Completing his master’s degree with an internship in a digital arts production company, he gained knowledge on the project management of cultural events and artworks. William’s vivacious curiosity has led him to work as a production manager at DARK EUPHORIA where he works with artists daily to develop and carry out their projects and oversee the entire production chain.
