Ciara Mullins

My research project catalogues insights into my lived experience of Type One Diabetes; in which the body is the site and subject of continual intervention for purposes of sustaining itself. Fourteen years and 25,000 injections later, my body has become a canvas of scared memories and trauma. I have used these experiences as a starting point for the conceptual underpinnings of my work.

My explorations of colour scarification and cataloging of treatments have resulted in a body of heavily surface treated hand-built ceramic works. Surface becomes a record. Layered colour, marks and subtle enamel echo the rhythms of care, while bruised tones and disrupted textures speak to the physical toll of this consistency. This work sits between control and vulnerability, reflecting a body that is persistently managed but never entirely stable.

The ‘wound’ is both literal and symbolic. It is a mark of ongoing survival, maintenance and routine.