Elva Mulchrone lives and works in Dublin.
She is an alumnus of Trinity College Dublin (Economics) and The National College of Art & Design, Dublin Fine Art-Painting. She received an MA in painting at the Royal College of Art, London in 2022. She is a 2024/5 Fulbright Scholar in Visual Art.
I paint because it is a way of helping me make sense of the world, and myself. There was a certain amount of idealism in my need to purse art, primarily painting, full time when I started a degree in Fine art in NCAD in 2012, after a career in Law and that led me back to Trinity, economics (my first primary degree) and data. The numbers made sense to me, communicating information which inspired me to want to communicate information, or truth, in another way.
Over my time as an artist the work I have made has been structured into series of paintings and sometimes installation and video, inspired by research, economic or social science research which touches upon a personal resonance. My work tends to be suggestive and I feel absorbs experiences and thoughts I’ve had. My work process embraces a background in research and logic but also chance and once started I allow the piece to take its own direction, and embrace abstraction.
“Elva Mulchrone's work,.., is in some respects a bit like Mark Rothko reimagined for an era of big data and algorithms. In Mulchrone’s paintings, built from layers of silkscreen, oil and acrylic, the emergent patterns glow like galaxies in the vastness of space.” (Aidan Dunne, The Irish Times 2018)
“Thoughtful stuff from a new generation.” (Gemma Tipton, The Best Art Exhibitions Of The Week, 2020)
“Mulchrone’s work hovers between the representational and the non-representational. Her practice is research-heavy, but at some point in her working process Mulchrone departs from the path of orthodox research to suggest that the research that she has done is best represented in another way.” (Niru Ratnam, Irrational Exuberance, 2018)
Mulchrone operates within a time-lag between argument and interpretation, between the objective and the subjective. It is within that gap that another sort of meaning, and another sort of understanding can arise.
Recent solo shows include Before...After, a two part exhibition at CUNY Graduate Center, New York City, Eudaiomonia dreaming at Dublin City University, Res Ipsa Loquitur with Gibbons & Nicholas, Building Blocks at the Blyth Gallery, Imperial College London, and Irrational Exuberance with Eight Gallery, Dublin.
Selected recent group exhibitions include The Hunt Museum Open Submission Exhibition 2025, The Second Ballinglen Biennial Exhibition, Ballinglen Museum of Art, At days end, the whole sky (2 person show with Brian Duggan) Rathfarnham Castle OPW, Dublin, Highlanes Gallery Open Submission, The Distance Between (3 person show), The Hockney Gallery, London, The First Ballinglen Biennial Exhibition, Ballinglen Museum of Art, The 193rd Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, Connections, The Boyle Arts Festival, Art on Paper, NYC, Arrival, Municipal DLR Lexicon, Dublin, Shuffle Show, Institut Fur Alles Mogliche Berlin and Context, Art Miami. She has received numerous awards including a 2026 Residency at Ballinglen Museum of Art and Art Foundation, The Dublin City Council Incubation Space Award 2024, Visual Artist in Residence 2022/23 at Dublin City University, The Thomas Dammann Trust Award, The Mainie Jellet Travel Bursary, The Emerging Artist Bursary, DLR and an Agility Award from the Arts Council of Ireland. Her work is in many public, corporate and private collections including the OPW (Irish State), Trinity College Dublin, Dublin City University, Imperial College London and CUNY Graduate Center collections.
