The Residency

During their residency at the Butler Gallery, Ki returned their focus to portraiture, a form they revisit for its intimacy and the connection that unfolds between sitter and artist. Portraiture asks who gets seen, how they are seen, and who controls the terms of that visibility. Over the month, they began Chosen Families, a collaborative portrait project with members of the LGBTQ+ community. The work centres on the solidarity and support networks that grow outside traditional kinship structures. Each participant invited a close friend into the process, co-authoring a portrait that traces key elements underpinning their friendship. As the work continues to unfold, it will gather photography, video, sound, text, drawing, and personal artefacts into a unified installation.

The Artist

Ki McBride is a multidisciplinary artist whose work sits at the intersection of visual art, theatre, and participatory arts. They studied theatre at Trinity College, Dublin, and subsequently took an MFA in Art in the Digital Age at NCAD, Dublin. Recent work includes An Injury to One is an Injury to All, a documentary theatre text developed with ex-Debenhams workers, curating the For the Love of Water Festival which explored climate change’s impact on river biodiversity, and Bzf D-Lhub (Too Much Love), a dance piece produced during their residency at The Live Room in Tangier, Morocco. They presented their new performance work 37 Reasons to be Blue at the Butler in October 2025. Ki’s work is socially engaged and rooted in human connection, creating art that is intellectually engaging, emotionally resonant, and deeply participatory.