UCD Associate Artist Lorna Donlon wins prestigious RDS Craft Award

Lorna Donlon, UCD associate artist and tapestry weaver has won the 2025 Royal Dublin Society (RDS) Craft award in the experienced maker category for a body of work praised by the judging panel as a ‘masterful blend of art and science’.

The Dublin-born tapestry artist studied at NCAD and Edinburgh College of Art before spending 20 years creating commissioned rugs and carpets. Since 2010, she has focused on tapestry weaving, attending summer schools in Tuscany and joining groups such as Contemporary Tapestry Artists and Timelines.

A UCD graduate in Cell and Molecular Biology (2020), Donlon combines traditional weaving with her scientific background. Winner of the Golden Fleece Award (2021), she now curates research-based projects as a UCD Associate Artist, including the touring exhibition ‘Cut From The Same Cloth’.

Speaking after the award announcement, Lorna Donlon said, “Winning the RDS Established Maker Craft Award 2025 marks a significant moment in my career. It acknowledges the significance of a large tapestry, “Cut From The Same Cloth” that I wove in UCD Conway Institute during 2024-25 as well as several tapestries I wove during my time as UCD College of Science Artist in Residence 2021-23.”

The 1.7 square metre tapestry at the centre of the ‘Cut From The Same Cloth’ exhibition represents the patterns and colours of UCD Conway Institute’s current research woven together with the patterns and colours of 174 fabrics from around the world.

From neuronal stem cells to neurons, adipocytes, bacteria growing in petri dishes, heatmaps, PCR and Western Blotting data as well as cancer cells and tumours, these patterns resonate with the stripes, squares, florals and geometric patterns in fabrics from countries such as Ukraine, Nigeria, South Sudan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Venezuela, Syria, Tunisia and Tanzania.

The stories behind these fabrics were generously shared by women from minority communities around Ireland. This was part of a Research Ireland funded engagement project to enable UCD Conway researchers establish new relationships and build trust with communities that they have not worked with previously.

“This award will allow me to continue to explore ways of weaving tapestries that combine the fundamentally ancient practice of tapestry weaving with documenting current science imagery”, explained Donlon.

Historically, tapestries document epic narratives but, by weaving small incidental details of daily life into the backgrounds, weavers gifted contemporary society with hints and clues about the lived history of a bygone era.

“I see my tapestries as documents that do the same thing. I am commenting on current advances in science and technology while leaving a record of this time for posterity. This is seen overtly, in the black and white squares of the readable QR code in ‘Cut From The Same Cloth’ or in the contrast in ‘Science is very near us - on scent and smell’; between the reproduction of Santiago Ramón Y Cajal’s drawing of pyramidal neurons in the brain from early 1900s with the 2023 image of a ‘synthetic neuron’ (Squaraine (SQ) nanowires on electrodes) from UCD School of Chemistry’s Redmond lab.”

The arts have been at the heart of he RDS since 1731 and the awards continue that powerful legacy. RDS President John Dardis commended the winners saying, “The RDS Foundation Arts Awards serve as investments in creativity, heritage and the future of Irish culture. I would like to take this opportunity to commend all the artists, makers and musicians shortlisted this year, and to thank our dedicated partners, donors, and the generosity of RDS Members, who without, none of this would be possible.”

Showcasing and rewarding excellence in Irish craft since 1968, the RDS Craft Awards is Ireland’s leading competition and prize fund dedicated to celebrating and supporting excellence in Irish craft.The competition features a two-strand structure, with an independent panel of esteemed international craft experts carefully assessing the work of emerging and established makers separately.

Organised by the RDS Foundation Arts, the RDS Craft Awards play a pivotal role in recognising and nurturing talent within the Arts sector. With the largest prize fund of its type in Europe, the Awards recognise craft makers across the island of Ireland and Irish-born makers working internationally.