Rachel Merrigan (GSD) PNI Interstudio Residency at Limerick Printmakers, Spring 2025.
Residencies are vital for artists, offering a break from the routines of everyday practice and allowing space to reflect, explore, and expand. The PNI Inter-Studio Residency provided an invaluable opportunity to work in a new environment—one that was both unfamiliar and inspiring.
Limerick Printmakers were incredibly welcoming and supportive throughout my time there. Their studio is impressively well-equipped, spacious, and designed to facilitate a smooth, uninterrupted workflow. I was given the freedom to work at my own pace, which allowed me to fully immerse myself in experimentation before moving on to producing an edition of work.
As a screenprinter, I used this time to test a range of variables—different mesh counts, exposure times, ink viscosities, and colour combinations. This hands-on exploration helped me make meaningful discoveries and decisions that will inform my practice going forward.
Limerick Printmakers generously provided me with a key, allowing extended access to the studio and uninterrupted time to focus on this research phase. The result of this residency was two small editions of prints, alongside a body of experimental works that I’ve chosen to keep for future reference and development.
The studio itself is exceptionally well-run, with a friendly and open atmosphere that added to my experience. I returned to Dublin with a host of new ideas—not just for my own work, but also ways my peers and I can enhance our own screenprinting processes in our own studio.
