Aisling Phelan Interview
Aisling Phelan is an Irish multidisciplinary artist working across 3D animation, AI, video, sculpture, and live interactive technologies. Her work explores what it means to be human in an era of rapid technological advancement and pervasive algorithmic influence. In this interview she discusses her artistic path, exploring digital identity, her technological inspirations, the challenges of the digital art world and what she has planned next.
Transitioning from a background in music to visual arts, what motivated you to explore mediums like 3D digital art and virtual reality?
AP: I’ve always been fascinated by things I don’t understand. Music is in my blood, and that obsession is never going anywhere, so I felt compelled to move into a space I knew less about and could have fun exploring new ways of working. I never thought I could be an artist ‘cause I wasn’t “good” at drawing or painting, so finding processes like animation or building 3D worlds was incredibly freeing for me.
Your work delves into the complex relationship between online and offline identities. What personal experiences or observations led you to focus on this theme?
AP: I find the whole performative nature of social media really intriguing, and how it forces us to be so selective about what parts of our lives we share with the world and what we keep hidden. It kind of started with me trying to understand where all our data goes. Why and how it’s collected and used to manipulate our behaviour, both in physical and virtual spaces.
In projects like the “Brand New” music video for Sloucho, you utilised advanced technologies such as photogrammetry and motion capture. How do you stay updated with emerging technologies, and how do they influence your creative process?
AP: Through college, I worked commercially in companies like Virtual Reality Ireland, Algorithm and on the VFX team on a Universal movie, so I got very used to having my finger on the pulse with the latest advancements.
As a female artist working at the intersection of art and technology in Ireland, what challenges have you faced, and how have you addressed them?
AP: I guess I’ll never know what it would be like any other way. I don’t really think of myself as a “female” artist, I’m just an artist. I guess there’s the odd surprise with something techy when people realise I know what I’m talking about (sometimes), but that’s gotten much better as the years go on.
With upcoming projects like Goodbye Body set to be screened at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, what themes or mediums are you excited to explore next in your artistic journey?
AP: I’m just back from a residency in Norway where I got to spend loads of time re-evaluating my practice and doing lots of research, particularly into the raw materials in our devices and the ecological effects of advancing technologies, such as AI, and how much it relies on our turning our backs on the natural world through the continued destruction of the land. I’m hoping to get to make a new work about that in the next year or so.
