18/05/2026
Curated by Helen O’Donoghue
Draíocht is delighted to announce Colourings by Lucy Hill, curated by Helen O’Donoghue, a Draíocht Children’s Commission, part of a series of initiatives to mark Draíocht’s 25th birthday.
Colourings centres on the artist’s own abstract colourings, which she has reimagined through collaboration with fashion designer Orla Langan and sound designer Adam Kennedy.
Orla and Lucy have transformed the visual language of Lucy’s sketchbook colourings into soft sculptures that invite children to touch, playfully interact, to take comfort and rest.
Adam has crafted a bespoke soundscape and sonic sensors that respond to their movement, creating an auditory environment that echoes the sculptures. The artist invites children to play with/in her colourings in the gallery, to recompose them as they wish and to enjoy their distinct qualities and possible combinations.
Colourings celebrates scribbling as a practice of becoming, where colours, shapes, textures and lines merge with sound, touch and movement, emphasising how the experience of colouring can nurture empathy, curiosity and collective imagination.
It invites us to consider colouring as a creative act rooted in childhood artistry. It is both a personal and collaborative exploration of how the unique language of colouring, for artist and child, might be a radical act of freedom and transformation of the world around us.
Lucy also will spend time in the gallery throughout the summer, changing and playing with the soft sculpture compositions alongside visiting children.
First Floor Gallery - Creative Response Space
A dedicated children’s response space and series of workshops inspired by Lucy Hill’s works will be programmed in the First Floor Gallery to run alongside the exhibition, including hands-on prompts, tactile materials, and simple making activities that encourage both artist-led and self-led curiosity, experimentation and engagement .hi.ll
