Riki Matsuda was in residence in TRISKEL SAMPLE Project Space from 4 March – 5 May 2024. “Word Search”, one of the works Riki created during her residency, was displayed in one of Triskel’s exterior poster boxes, initially as part of Cork Midsummer Festival 2024 and extended in July 2024.

Towards the end of her residency, she ran Happy Hour, two sold-out correspondence workshops for the homesick about the importance of keeping in touch. It was a social hour of making correspondence art with the artist, enjoying group drawing, letter writing, and a quick lesson in envelope construction. Participants were invited to write to their mum, a stranger, an unrequited love, a cat, or even themselves; in fact, anyone they believed was in need of a little tenderness. Every participant left with a personalised piece of post for that special someone.

“My residency in the TRISKEL SAMPLE Project Space was a much-needed and welcome home away from home. Over a two-month period, I began and finished making three wearable objects for a new film project, made friends with the lovely people keeping the Arts Centre running smoothly, and had countless discussions with engaged Triskel visitors about art and the making process.” – Riki Matsuda

About the Artist

A Japanese-Irish artist based in Cork, Riki Matsuda received her BFA from CCAD in Ohio and relocated to Cork, Ireland in 2019. Her multidisciplinary practice centres around communication and how language serves and deserts us.

Through installations and interactive work, Matsuda creates a space for unlearning by playing with misunderstandings, the limitations of language, the complexity of feeling, and the need for physical communication. Matsuda has taken part in Cork’s STAMP Festival as well as the Cavan Arts Festival, Culture Night 2023, Sample-Studios Members Summer Exhibition and was included in The Irish Contemporaries {ii} based in L.A.

In 2023, Riki was awarded the 2nd Sample-Studios Cork Midsummer Festival Award which included a €2,000 bursary, membership of Sample-Studios and production supports from Cork Midsummer Festival to present new work as part of the Festival in 2024. In advance of presenting her multidisciplinary installations and popup performances at Cork Midsummer Festival in June 2024, Riki Matsuda engaged in a focused residency in Triskel, exploring her materials, methodology and testing her ideas with Triskel audiences.