Claire Dooley

With a background in craft, I am interested in the relationships that develop between people and the materials that they work with, as well as the quieter relationships that are formed through everyday interactions with objects. This relationship, often described as material intelligence, or tacit knowledge, emerges through use, repetition and attention to materials over time.

My research project explores these ideas through the material culture of the potato in Ireland. Despite being a humble and familiar object, the potato is deeply tied to Irish cultural identity and memory. By focusing on the potato as an object of study, I examine its changing roles across cultivation, cooking and eating. I explore how its material qualities shape human practices. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the project brings together craft, food history, material culture and everyday life to reconsider the meanings embedded within ordinary objects.