Open Studio and Artist Talk
- with Susanne Horsch

Join us in the Garden Studio at Butler Gallery for a sneak peak and talk on the work of studio artist Susanne Horsch.

Susanne Horsch is a Swiss installation artist based in Kilkenny whose practice investigates the complex relationship between mind and body, drawing on feminist, queer, and affect theories to explore how emotions, thoughts, and lived experiences shape both individual and collective identities. 

A graduate of Ulster University Belfast with an MFA in Fine Art, she works primarily with textiles and soft sculptures, using them as metaphors for weaving together the often-invisible elements of human experience.

Textiles inform both her physical and conceptual practice, with techniques such as batik serving as a language through which she excavates and exposes hidden emotions, memories, and personal histories. 

Reflective writing is central to her work, offering introspective space that guides her artistic development while challenging isolated narratives surrounding mental health and emotional labour. 

Her evolving three-dimensional soft sculptures function as archives of personal and collective experiences, inviting viewers to confront intimacy, vulnerability, and shared emotional landscapes, fostering connection, understanding, and collective healing. 

During the Garden Studio Residency here at Butler Gallery, Susanne has been developing a new stop-motion animation project supported by The Arts Council of Ireland and Kilkenny County Council. The work is part of a broader programme of activity leading towards a solo exhibition at University of Atypical in
Belfast this October as part of Bounce Festival, followed by a solo exhibition with Lumpenstation in Biel, Switzerland in March 2027.