Clodhoppers presents recent work by Stradbally-born artist Niamh Coffey, including ceramics, small-scale mixed-media collages, signature textile sculptures and a new hanging textile piece.

Taking its title from Marina Carr’s play The Boy, the exhibition explores our connection to nature and the cosmos through playful, imagined ecological relationships. Drawing on Irish folklore and myth, Coffey brings together forms of flesh, fur, flower and feather across textile, drawing and ceramic work. Scenes of metamorphosis and blurred boundaries create humorous, sometimes uneasy encounters that invite audiences to imagine new ways of living within the wider natural world.

The exhibition coincides with Clodhopper Clodclobber, a commission by Laois Arts Service and Connect Laois, in association with Laois Pride. Created with local LGBTQ+ young people, the project features a series of tufted masks to be worn in the Laois Pride Parade 2026.

Niamh Coffey is a Dublin-based artist working across textiles, drawing and sculpture. Their practice combines ecology, queer theory and Irish folklore to create imagined relationships between people, other beings and the natural world. A 2016 graduate of NCAD’s Sculpture and Expanded Practice programme, Coffey presented their debut solo exhibition, Siúnta, in 2025 at Cultúrlann Belfast, Pallas Projects and Súil Gallery, Co. Clare. Find out more at niamhcoffey.ie.