Caitlin is a British artist based in Brighton and London. She has exhibited across the UK and Europe and received an international fellowship at The Arts Institute Prague. She has completed residencies at Pada Studios in Lisbon and Studio 459 in Tomar, Portugal, and been commissioned by Metal Arts, Francis Knight, and Somerset Artworks. To get in touch please email: info@caitlinheffernan.co.uk
Caitlin is captivated by "underworlds," particularly the intricate networks of root systems and rhizomes. Her fascination was sparked by a visit to caves in central Portugal, where she learned that stalactites would cease growing if touched by humans. This experience inspired her to imagine a world governed by non-human forces—one where nature can reset itself amidst the climate crisis. Rooted in the belief that the planet is a sentient, disruptive, and unruly force, Caitlin’s work draws from the natural world to explore the interconnectedness between humans and the non-human. Her paintings blend real and imagined elements to create psychological landscapes that reflect nature’s agency. Her practice explores terrains and zones reflecting the unseen forces that shape our world.
‘The surface becomes a site for exploration, a continual site for renewal, becoming and re-generating. Shifting landscapes intrinsically linked to ourselves. I imagine myself as a root, plant, or bird. Painting becomes an act of resistance, of mutability. I shed my skin, I begin again.’
Biography
Caitlin Heffernan is an artist working across painting and installation. She has studied at Falmouth School of Art, Winchester School of Art, and at Konstfack University, as part of a research lab, Stockholm, Sweden and holds an MFA from Central St. Martin’s College of Art and Design. She is currently studying on the MA Painting Programme at The Royal College of Art.
She has been awarded commissions with Metal Arts and Somerset Artworks and selected for residencies both nationally and internationally. She has been part of the Jerwood Drawing Prize and exhibited nationally and internationally. She is co-director and curator of Unravelled an innovative organisation creating site-specific exhibitions across different spaces, recent projects have included working with The National Trust and The London Wetland Centre.
RESIDENCIES
2023 Studio 459, Tomar, Portugal
2022 Turps X Pada Residency, painting residency at Pada, Lisbon.
2018-19 Research Lab, Konstfack University, Stockholm, Sweden.
2017 Artist in residence at Chard Museum
2009 Triangle Arts Trust, international artists’ workshop, Nigeria.
2005 International Artist Fellowship, Arts Institute, Prague.
2004 Braziers International Artist’s Workshop, Oxfordshire, UK.
SELECTED COMMISSIONS
2020 Wetlands Unravelled, London Wetland Centre
2019 Research Lab: Crafts in Historic Houses, Stockholm, Sweden.
2017 Muse:Makers in Museums, commissioned by Somerset Art Works
2015 Commission by Metal Arts for Harvest Festival in Peterborough, with Studio Orta
2015 In-Site site-specific commission, Rochester, Kent
2014 Letters Home, Hoodwink, site-specific response to Horsmonden, Kent.
2014 Unravelling Uppark, Uppark, Unravelled
2013 Unravelling the Vyne, The Vyne, Unravelled
2012 Unravelling Nymans, Nymans House and Gardens, Unravelled
2010 Unravelling the Manor House, Preston Manor Brighton.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Split, Turps Alumni, Wrexham in partnership with Hypha Studios
2024 Turps Hastings Leavers Show, St Leonard’s Hastings
2023 ING Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London, Do Not Swallow, Safehouse, Peckham,
Mud For You, Fitzrovia Gallery, London.
2022 Tyger Tyger Burning Bright’, Pada Gallery Pada Studios, Lisbon.
2021 ‘Wetlands Unravelled’, London Wetland Centre.
2019 Entanglements, Konstkraft, Ljusne, Sweden
2019 Entanglements, Hallwyska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
2018 Muse: Makers in Museums, Museum of Somerset
2017 Present Tense, curated by Lucy Day, Phoenix Brighton.
2017 Red, The Grange, Rottingdean, Brighton.
2015 Leaving Home, Contemporary Applied Arts, London.
2014 Unravelling Uppark, Unravelled, Uppark, West Sussex
2014 Letters Home, Gun & Spitroast pub & Horsmonden Social Club,
2013 Craft Emergency Open, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth
2013 Unravelling the Vyne, Unravelled, The Vyne, Hampshire
2012 Unravelling Nymans, Unravelled, Nymans House and Gardens
2011 Shifting Boundaries, House Festival, Phoenix Brighton
2010 Lost in Translation? Riverside Studios, London
2010 Dream Home, Phoenix Brighton Gallery, Brighton
2008 I am not I: pity the tale of me curated by Robert Lowe part of www.axisweb.org.uk
2008 That’s Entertainment…Off-site project curated by Cathy Lomax, Transition Gallery London as part of Whitstable Biennial,
2008 Comfort Zones Oriel Davies Gallery group show touring to: Quay Arts, Newport, Isle of Wight and Bury St. Edmunds Gallery.
2007 Comfort Zones Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown, Wales, touring to Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle, James Hockey Galleries, Farnham.
2006 Jerwood Drawing Prize touring to: Rennie Mackintosh Gallery, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, Bayart, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff , The Gallery, The Arts Institute at Bournemouth, Poole, Drawing Room Phoenix Gallery, Brighton, City Running, Phoenix Gallery, Brighton Fringe 2005 Jerwood Drawing Prize Jerwood Space, London touring to University of Gloucestershire, Pittville Gallery, Cheltenham, What Happens When Everything Is Reduced to Ones and Zeros? Pearlfisher Gallery, London.
2005 Sussex Open ‘Words-Imagination, Fantasy and Tales’ Brighton Museum
2004 Perspective 2004 Ormeau Baths Gallery Belfast curator Vittorio Urbani
2004 The Inscriptive Ferret, curated by Craig Martin, Space 44, London.
AWARDS
2024 Vice Chancellor Scholarship MA Painting Royal College of Art
2019 Scholarship from Konstfack University of Arts & Design, Stockholm, Sweden.
2019 Estrid Ericssons Scholarship towards publication of Research Lab.
2019 Arts Council Grant for Paradox The London Wetland Centre, 2008 Arts Council Individual Award
2018 a-n bursary
2014 Arrivals & Departures, travel grant for R&D visit to New York City.