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People

Core Staff

  • Dr Conn Holohan – Director – conn.holohan@universityofgalway.ie
  • David Kelly – Project Lead – david.d.kelly@universityofgalway.ie

Membership

PhD Students 

Alaz Okudan

Alaz is a PhD research scholar in Creative Technologies at the University of Galway. He graduated from the Media and Visual Studies MA program at Bilkent University, Ankara, with a thesis titled Camera Archaeologia: A Media Archaeological Investigation into the Contemporary Use of 19th-Century Photographic Techniques (2022). He also worked as a part-time instructor at Bilkent University’s Communication and Design Department (2022-2023). Alaz is into hidden, neglected, and marginal stories from the history of photography and alternative positions in visual culture. Phenomenology, media archaeology, and critical theory influence his academic research and personal work. His ongoing investigation focuses on the cultural and artistic implications of perceived accidents and failures in generative AI and is co-supervised by Dr. Padraic Killeen and Dr. James McDermott.

 

Hua-Chun Fan (Fionn)

Hua-Chun Fan (Fionn), a versatile artist hailing from Taipei, Taiwan, wears multiple hats as a media composer, book designer, and transmedia artist. Her passion lies at the crossroads of arts, science, and technology, with a keen focus on avatar creation through 3D animation, immersive audio, smart textiles, and the intersection of proxemics with AI technologies. Hua-Chun’s artistic journey unfolds through the composition of symphonies and electroacoustic music, enriching the worlds of films, animations, and games. She has been collaborating with award-winning composers, such as Miguel Kertsman (BR), Dru Masters (UK) and Dan Forden (USA). Her achievements encompass a Honourable Mention at the London X4-Seasonal Short Film Festival for her documentary music, and her book series secured a coveted spot on the shortlist for The Best Book Design at Leipzig Book Fair. Currently based in Ireland, Fionn's artistic journey has led her to residencies in Vienna, London, Amsterdam, Denmark, and Poland since 2015. 

Hermano Luz Rodrigues

Hermano Luz Rodrigues is a Brazilian artist and PhD candidate in Creative Technologies. His PhD research focuses on the impact of realistic digital visualizations on public spaces. Previously, Hermano received a Master’s in Design Studies degree in Art, Design, and the Public Domain, from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (USA)  and a Master of Arts degree in Research in Artistic and Visual Practices from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain).

Website: hermanoluz.com

 

Rocío Romero Grau

Rocío Romero Grau is a multidisciplinary artist stablished in Galway. She finished a master's in Creative Practice and a BA (Honours) in Contemporary Art at The Atlantic Technological University (ATU).  Her academic research was recognized with two Academic Excellence Awards.  As a visual artist, Grau works with video, VR, interactive interfaces, holograms, generative art, painting, photography, sound and music.  In addition, Grau is a professional musician with classical and modern studies in piano, voice and composition and with 4 published albums.  Her visual art practice is highly informed by her range of musical experience, which has found form in multimedia installations from where to experiment further with composition and performances. 

Conceptually she is interested in processes of transformation and understands the present as a liminal state to be transitioned through the aesthetic experience.  Within this frame, her research focuses on the potential of human attention as an active, embodied, structuring and transcendental capacity.  

Her work has been exhibited in Llum Festival (Barcelona), Pallas Projects Studios (Dublin), Galway City Museum, Transmediale Gallery (Berlin), Goethe Institute (Dublin) and Galway Arts Center, among others. 

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