Florence Dwyer is currently based in Glasgow. She graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 2014 with a BA (Hons) in Visual Communication (Illustration).
Her current practice as a maker has been informed by research into processes of communal building, making and inhabiting and pays particular interest to the design of different models of living.  The resulting work often manifests itself as ceramics, textile pieces and furniture.  Alongside her practice as a maker, Dwyer works as an artist volunteer at Project Ability and as a workshop facilitator at Glasgow Sculpture Studios.
Dwyer’s residency in May 2017 provided her with the time to reflect upon her work and undertake research towards new projects. Reflecting on her residency, she has written:
‘Being taken out of my day to day life in Glasgow and being placed in Cove Park was really useful to my practice. I felt lucky to have very few obligations, or commitments or the usual daily things to think about. It gave me great freedom to think, walk, reflect and develop my ideas.
Whilst I was there I started a project which took its starting point from Peggy Angus, a designer, educator and ceramic tile maker and Henry Morris, the founder of the ‘Village College’. I wanted to look in to the political and social relevance for craft in architecture, education and day to day life. These ideas went off in tangents I couldn’t have predetermined, yet feel glad they did. I worked mainly with clay and plaster, creating small samples for architectural reliefs which I’m now beginning to scale up. I also spent some time designing a new seating arrangement which was used for an event in Glasgow in the summer, it was really useful to have the space to reflect on previous work I’d done whilst doing this and to have the time to really think things through before going in the workshop.
Although things didn’t feel completely resolved at the end of the four weeks, I developed ideas, processes and a rhythm of working that I’m still continuing with today. It was also great to share the site with other artists, writers and translators, to share ideas and see how everyone used their time in different ways.’
image: ‘Relief Samples’, Plaster, Cove Park, 2017